Directories Books

Copywriting giants deserve equally large books to showcase them, so this Copy Book is the perfect literary wax museum to learn more about some of the advertising industry's greats. In it, you can almost, just almost, get into the minds of legends like Neil French, David Abbott and many others, and possibly get a glimpse into how their minds work and what makes them tick. Besides their professional advice, you might get some inspiration from the award-winning advertisement classics (check out the infamous Volk Wagon and Stella Atois ads) that accompany each of these wordsmiths. (The price is) worth every cent of it.

Sitting on my shelf are, oh, about 30 books on advertising. Maybe more. Ironically, "The Copy Book" isn't one of them -- it's too damn large! So it lays kinda slouched against the wall. But not for long, 'cos that baby tends to spend an obscene amount of time in my hands. And yes, as some other reviewer points out, Neil French is in sparkling form -- what's new? --, dispensing advice you wouldn't read about (Australian expression) -- except here. Abbott ... amazing. Steve Henry. Jim Durfee. Richard Foster (great essay!) They're all here and more. A must-read several times over. Ads are a little dated, but so what? The advice is priceless.

I read a copy of this book that belongs to my CD and quite frankly,I was awestruck. Been looking for my own ever since. You'll find all the writers you admire in there. Neil French in his element, David Abbott,name them, all the superstars telling you how they do it. And how not to do it. An unputdownable read for all in this noble profession, very inspiring.

Tired of advertising books that are big on art, but short on copy - full of page-shots where the body copy's been reduced or screened beyond legibility?

The Copy Book, by Alastair Crompton ("The Art of Copywriting") is different. In it, 32 top advertising writers share their views on how they write, and what makes a great ad.

It's full of good advice, and full of very good - and awarded - ads. Some of them are even long-copy!

This is beginning to sound like an ad. I'm not getting paid, so I'll stop.

Vaughn Davis
Auckland, New Zealand

I'm a woodworker, so when I was at the local tool store, I started thumbing through this book. The book is a wonderful survey of current woodworking. I saw lots of stuff that I'd love to build. When I saw a certain floor lamp very much like one I have been mentally designing, I bought the book.

This book can best be described as fancy, "glossy catalog."

One very helpful item is a summary of the 'terms and conditions' of the various craftspersons--required deposit, lead times, whether there is a charge for design work, etc. Apparently, I might be able to ask for (and receive) more from my clients.

I love this book. It is filled with beautiful, unique pieces of furniture. There are a few extreme designs, but most of the pieces you could imagine having in your own home. All of the pictures are in color and a good size so you can see the details clearly. Besides giving the names and postal addresses of the craftsmen, the author also furnishes websites and email addresses for many of them. In the back there is a regional index and a style index which are both very useful. Even though this book is paperback, I think it would make a great coffee table book because every aspect of it is beautifully designed; the text, the photographs and the layout.

(I looked over this book in the store, and hope to get it for Christmas)

Lots of great pictures! If you are a long time Fine Woodworking reader you will recognize many of them. However, you notice other nuances when they are placed with unseen pictures of the craftsman's other work.

The wide variety of styles is very useful for forming your own sense of design and proportion. You see traces of James Krenov's style on many pages. I found it more useful and inspiring than Taunton's Design Book series.

If you were looking to hire somone to make you a custom piece I suspect this book would be quite a help, but I'm looking at it as more of a survey of current work. I plan to use it to help refine where I want to go with my own furniture design and woodworking.

-Jeff

This is the perfect present to give someone who thinks that the art of making fine furniture is a dying one. In it are representative works by 125 of our finest craftsfolk. Here you will find artists who extends styles which have become timeless without ever being imitative (Robert Stevenson and Jeffrey Greene), woodworkers who are intent in opening new avenues of creativity (Tom Hobgood and Christoph Neander), and every variation in between. And each and every one is a master of the craft.

In a sense, this is a puff book - created to facilitate the contact between the artist and the knowledgeable consumer. Each furniture maker gets two beautifully printed pages to present their work and their ideas. Not very much room, when you think of it. Reading the book is like spending a day at the very best custom furniture show in the world. And like a good show, the submissions were juried by a panel to ensure that promotional or not, the contents were the genuine article.

I bought the book to look for some ideas for furniture - not to buy, but to build. If I look too long I get a bit depressed as I realize how much more skilled these makers are than I am. But it is an inspiration, and, eventually, it helped me make what I wanted to do a bit finer in concept. If you love to look at fine things, or are one of the fortunate who can look forward to having them, this book is a homage to artistry that is a combination of great imagination and the skill to execute it.

Over the past couple of months I've read a small pile of computer graphics books from the "Inspired" and New Riders [digital] series and others. I would put 3D design in the position of being one of the first practial how-to books a beginner should work with. Each section is clearly laid out, doesn't confuse with too much detail, and helps you gently step into CG. This book will get you oriented and everything after this will just be deeper studies in specific areas.

A lush, beautiful introduction to the world of 3D. Perfect for newbies and those just wondering what 3D is all about. Plus it includes a Cinema 4D tutorial (building a photo-realistic pool cue).

This book left me wanting more from this publisher and this author.

The BEST book out there for beginning 3D artists. Period. Should be included with all 3D software packages. If you're thinking about getting into 3D design, buy this first!!!!!!

Digital 3D Design is like a visual dictionary for the 3D design world. Out of all the 3D books I own, this is the one I recommend the most in teaching 3D and animation classes (with Bill Fleming's Photorealistic Toolkit a close second!).

It covers concepts and terms (introductory and advanced) in very clear and concise ways, fully illustrated.

It discusses all the major 3D packages, including Maya, LightWave, Cinema 4DXL, ElectricImage, SoftImage and others, discussing advantages of each.

It covers views, 3D space, lighting, shading, textures, resolution, UV mapping, splines, curves, polygons, points, advanced modeling concepts, raytracing, rendering, radiosity, setting up skeletons, animation, inverse kinematics--everything you'd expect if you were looking for the ideal textbook for a 3D class (I'm using it for my modeling and animation classes).

All this for around less than $30. A book every 3D designer, and instructor, should own! Highly recommended.

Several years ago, I was helping corporate clients prepare for a trade show in Sichuan Province. We put together a thorough guide to doing business in the province, covering its history, natural resources, legal requirements and related topics. If we didn't have the necessary information readily at hand, we could easily get it -- even the latest rules for joint ventures. But when we needed contact information on the province's government officials, it was almost nowhere to be found. We finally managed to assemble a useful directory -- but would have been delighted to have had access to a far more complete directory, like the one found in this superb Pacificom book. And we were looking for names in just one province. Here you can find listings for almost every part of China. If you need an up-to-date resource, to save you hours or even days of work, this is the directory I would recommend.

Directory of Chinese Government and Organizations is a "must buy" for anyone who is serious about conducting business in China. The comprehensive nature and detail shown in this publication is a mark that a true expert, who is knowledgeable of how to successfully conduct business in China, wrote this guide. No other guide offers the variety of industries as this one. Plus, the ability to search organizations by province, and by national, and state government is an added benefit. I know that one of the greatest challenges that many people have faced when working with Chinese agencies is finding the right person to contact. This is the first book of this type that I have seen here in the US. Not even the most respected sources, including the Wall Street Journal can match the caliber and standards of this publication. I look forward to future publications. I give it 5 stars and the authors and publishers at PacifiCom, Inc. and Gala Worldwide Communications have my full endorsement!

Knowing the right people and connection is essential for having a successful business in China. This directory contains up-to-date information of Chinese central and local government organizations and major national corporations. You need the book to help you understand who you may need to deal with. An essential tool to get you started!

This is by far the most thorough and up-to-date compendium of Chinese government and officialdom that I've seen. As someone who has been doing business in China for several years, I've been frustrated time and again by the lack of current, complete contact details. Other directories, many of them several times more expensive, purport to provide the information. Most are out of date before the ink is dry. This one delivers. In addition to central government functionaries, it lists party officials, military types and municipal, provincial and diplomatic offices - no easy task at a time when there's so much shuffling and reorganization in official China. I was pleasantly surprised to find website addresses for so many government offices. This book is well organized and, apparently, will be updated frequently by mail and online. Those of us who do business in China can only say: It's about time!

I am very happy with this book. It has two pages on each oil describing the aroma, a description of the plant, the history and myths, chemical constituents, uses, precautions, and other oils it blends well with. At the back is a glossary, a blend chart, which catagorizes the types of oils, and a skin type chart. I have found it easy to use, and helpful in my home creations.

This is one of my favorite and most referenced handbooks for essential oils. It is designed for one who knows at least a little about aromatherapy, and plans to be working with the oils. Warning: the drawings on some of the pages may be offensive to some, depicting a witch with an herb popularly used by witches at one time, and people not fully dressed on others. I value the book for it's wealth of information, and ignore some of the illustrations.

Two pages are devoted to each of the essential oils, which are in alphabetical order. Near the title of each oil there is a chart listing the plant/part (plant as in "tree", and part as in "leaves" or "fruit"), Latin name, family, note (top, middle or base), planet, and means of extraction. There are several categories that describe each oil. Aroma describes the kind of fragrance; "features" tell about physical characteristics of the plant, and where it is grown, and such. A section called "History and Myth" tells about how the oil was used historically, and any myths associated with it. The chemical constituents, oil properties, and any precautions are listed. Three sections are devoted to telling how each oil may effect the mind (as in being a sedative), body (as in helping to regulate women's cycles), and skin (as in reactions to say, oily or sensitive skin). The last heading on each page is "blends" which lists other essential oils which blend well with the one under discussion.

There are several helpful resources in the back of the book. A glossary gives a short definition of oil properties, and lists the oils with each property. A blending chart is included, categorizing the oils by what they are (trees, flowers, spices, etc.) and telling what commonly works well together. Another chart lists the oils under which skin types for which they would be most helpful.

This book is great! It covers most of the oils any one would use and some you may never have heard of. I really like that it includes the note( top middle base) for each oil as well. This is a must have book that you will use often.

This book is definately a must for anyone studying or wants to know more about essential oils. I used this book as a bible during my Diploma of Aromatherapy course, and I still find it a valuable tool for this modality, as it covers everything from where the plant originates from, its chemical properities, effects on the mind, body, skin, blending. I highly recommend this book for any aromatherapy enthusiast. A must on the bookshelf.

We are one of the doll hospitals listed in the book. We have already received a call from Louisiana from another doll hospital that was looking for Margon eyes. Also, we have a web site, and when we receive requests for the "closest doll hospital to where I live", we use the Doll Hospital Directory to answer their inquiry. We foresee using this book as a very helpful resource in our business. Every person who does any doll repair should have a copy.

I was very impressed with the concise information. I used it right away. I have a doll I wanted to have repaired. Several doll hospitals sent me repair information. One doll hospital even sent me photos of previous repairs. It's a necessity for anyone who collects dolls.

It is nice to have other doll hospitals to refer customers to that do not wish to mail their dolls for repair, especially knowing that they produce objects of fine workmanship. My name is Heather M. Sainsbury and my hospital, THE CHINA BISQUE DOLL HOSPITAL & GIFT SHOP IN ARCADIA, FLORIDA is listed in this excellent reference guide. The before & after section is amazing! You can look for pictures on my composition restoration there. I am honored to be included in this book, all that are listed are specialists. A SPECIAL UPDATE: THIS PAST YEAR I HAD THE HONOR OF WINNING 1ST. PLACE IN PROFESSIONAL COMPOSITION RESTORATION, BY THE DOLL DOCTORS ASSOC. AND HONORABLE MENTION IN PERIOD COSTUMING AND WIGS. Add this book to your collection it will become one of your prized possessions. EMAIL ADDRESS: dolldoctor@desoto.net Dollingly Yours, Heather M. Sainsbury C.D.D

This book is easy,fun to read AND it gave me a lot of doll doctors to speak with about repairs. It made getting the doll fixed so easy. Just the book I needed!

I loved the before and after photos of all the antique dolls that have been restored. Having this book has opened up a new world of collecting for me - now I can collect older or worn dolls and I know they will be as good as new. This book taught me alot and I reccommend it to any doll lover.

Dennis Dahlin has compiled a delightful and unique guide of interesting places to stay with an environmental or 'earth-friendly' element. The book is a dynamic resource with an update page available on their website. The book is enhanced with beautiful sketches primarily drawn by the author. Other environmental travel guides are in the works. We enjoyed the relaxing read and look forward to exploring the many inns he has discovered and shared with us. .....

The charm and character of the inns listed in this book make me want to take a trip from the tip of the NorthEast down, stopping at every inn. Hand-drawn sketches are marvelous! And, the info on ecofriendly places to visit is richly detailed. I've almost visited all the inns here in Northern CA--This book opens new pathways across the country, while treading lightly on the earth. A treasure.

This review is written by a connoisseur of travel guides who has been a globe-trotter for over 50 years, and a resident of the northeast for much of her life prior to becoming an innkeeper in the Caribbean. The book is exceptionally well researched and beyond compare in its meticulously researched and presented contents. It picks and chooses the most interesting inns, richly describing each one in an enchanting and easy-to-follow format. It inspires the reader with additional information about hiking groups, farmers' markets, environmental action groups, web sites, and other items of interest rarely included in similar, but more expensive, travel guides. Reading this book is like being taken care of by the best of the best inn-keepers. The illustrations are methodically detailed and beautiful to look at, as are the photos. Buy it, you'll like it! And give it as a gift, too!

From Planeta Journal - Guide to "green" hotels in the U.S. Northeast. The author provides a selection of hotels desgined and operated in harmony with the environment. Establishments in this guide strive toward being earth-frinedly via the use of solar heating, innovative recycling programs and/or organic gardens. The author describes these hotels and inns and provides rates, credentials and - most notably - lively histories of each hotel's origins and the owner's current work. Chapters include information about nearby earth-friendly restaurants, natural food stores, farmers' markets and destinations for low-impact recreation. This is the first in a series. Highly recommended.

I have only read about half of the book so far and already I have used many of the tips and scripts. All the scripts mentioned in the book are available online so you don't have do all that typing. Many of the hacks are not really hacks, but tips and recommendations on how to do things.
The only minor complain I have is that the book references other chapters, but you have to go back to the Table of Contents to find the page number for the chapter. I think each page should have the current chapter number on it.
Each page does have the hack number on it so it makes it easy to find a hack without going back to the table of contents.

If you use eBay (as a buyer or seller), this is the "user's manual" or best practices guide that should be part of your signup... eBay Hacks by David A. Karp.

Contents: Diplomacy and Feedback; Searching; Bidding; Selling; Working with Photos; Completing Transactions; Running a Business on eBay; The eBay API; Index

Most Hacks titles consist of 100 tips and tricks related to the subject matter being discussed. In eBay Hacks, you get an extra 25 for your money. What a deal! :-) Regardless of whether you're a complete newbie to eBay or you actually run an eBay storefront, you'll find things in here that will save you time and money on a regular basis. Reading the chapter and hacks on feedback, I learned that there are ways to prevent negative feedback even after it's been given. Since so much of who you are on eBay relates directly back to your feedback rating, this can be a critical factor in getting buyers to trust you (or others to sell to you). The chapter on bidding went into the act of "sniping", or bidding at the last second, so that you can stand a much better chance of not being overbid at the last second. I didn't realize there are third-party services that will do this for you automatically. No wonder I've lost some things I really thought I had nailed. Karp even goes into how best to compose photos that will draw people to your auction rather than send them away for something that looks more appealing.

Obviously, you can use eBay without this book and information. I'm sure you'll do fine. But the first time you find an auction miscategorized (because you were looking for that condition) and you launch a bidding strategy that gets you the deal of a lifetime for next to nothing, you'll wonder why you waited so long. Good stuff here...

Author: David A. Karp

Description:
eBay Hacks by David A. Karp
Published by O'Reilly ISBN 059610068X
Reviewed by Jim Lauria-HuNTUG member

From the introduction: "Essentially, you'll find in this book the tools to help you trade smarter and safer, make more money, and have fun doing it."

This second edition-revised and updated to June 2005-provides the eBayer with tips and tools (aka hacks) for successful bidding, buying and selling on the premier online auction web site.

I found the hacks provided by the author to be extremely helpful and informative, easy to use and understand. As a long time eBay seller I had become complacent with the tools and techniques which I had been using for months or even years. This book has given me new ideas and approaches to make my eBay business better.

Karp provides clever shortcuts and powerful tools to do all sorts of neat things like create better titles, listings and descriptions to fancier photographs (Hack 74) and even how to cultivate a good reputation and protect yourself and your $ (Hacks 25 & 85). He also provides warnings about your safety, privacy and money matters.

Included is a chapter on eBay's Application Programming Interface, XML, Perl, PHP and RSS and development of custom software apps that can be worked in to one's own business apps and can also be passed along to others-hey maybe even for a small fee!

The book is well written with plenty of photos, screen shots and lots of code to get you up and buying/selling in quick fashion. 438 pages that read through really quickly and are packed with plenty of good stuff.

I would recommend this title for anyone-novice or pro-who is or would like to make or save some money using eBay or just to have some fun while selling your wares. The book lists for $24.95-less online.

I give this one 5 stars.

One of my favorite activities in my spare time is buying and selling on eBay. It has quickly become the world's largest virtual mall of just about everything you can possibly think of. When I received this book I was eager to learn some of the "tricks of the trade" and found a lot of useful material, albeit some of it is geared towards power sellers and not the average user.

The book itself is packed with 125 "hacks" for eBay, which can range from the basics (leaving feedback) to the more complex (setting up your own online check-out). A lot of the hacks give you tweaks and twists on the normal way of doing things, or take a task and show you a different, sometimes a little more dynamic, way of doing it.

Some of the more advanced topics will only be feasible if you are a powerseller. The author covers a lot of third-party tools as well, which can quickly run into the big dollars if you are just selling a few things each week. However, there is a fair amount of material devoted to the mom and pop sellers, like many of us are. One of the shining points of this book is that it does show you how to do a lot of tricks yourself if you are willing to roll up your sleeves and play around with Perl.

However, the book is for more than just sellers. A lot of tips are there for buyers as well. Such things as how to snipe effectively, and how to take advantage of bid increments in the auction to get the item for the lowest price. Even though the author is writing for both parties, the buyer and seller, he does a good job of not taking advantage of one over.

A few of the topics he covers can be a bit controversial, depending on how you look at it. Things such as withholding feedback and sniping can be frowned upon by some -- but it is all perfectly legal in the world of eBay and the author tells you how to take advantage of it.

Overall, a good book for those who want to get more out of eBay than just the casual buyer/seller. If you want to kick-start your eBay selling career, this is one of the books you will want to have to help guide you; Whereas if you want to learn the tricks of the buying game, you couldn't have picked a better reference manual.

Half the enjoyment of Golf just seems to be about being outdoors in beautiful settings.

If you are in the mood to travel, these are some of the places you can travel to in your mind.

The Northeast: Regal Retreats
The South: Grand Tradition
The Midwest: Lakeside Links
the Northwest: Rugged Resorts
The Southwest: Sunwashed Escapes
Hawaii: Ancient Pleasures

Personally, I think playing golf might just be a good excuse to go to one of the resorts in this gorgeous book. Page after Page of beautiful scenery is sure to make you want to start packing your bags, whether you play golf or not.

I think my husband is dreaming of The Phoenician in Arizona.

"Those who visit the Phoenician year after year describe its ambiance in a single word: freedom. The spacious lobbies, tranquil guest rooms, and even the Arizona sky liberate visitors from their usual day-to-day concerns."

Frankly, I thought the resorts in Hawaii looked rather tempting. My husband can just drop me off at the Four Seasons Resort, Hualalai on the way to the course.

~The Rebecca Review

I bought this book for my father in law and he loves it!! it is a great book for anyone who loves golf! the pictures are awesome, they catch some good shots and it's got details on everything. I don't know much about golf, but I even liked the book! It is truly a great gift, and I recommend it to anyone interested in Golf!!!

One of my favorite vacations is to go to a top golf resort. Once I am there, my only discomfort is to wonder if I am missing a better one somewhere else out of habit. With this guide, I was able to check out many resorts that I had heard of but had never visited. I can see that I can skip many famous resorts that I had been considering, but should consider some others that I had never heard of. This book will add enormously to my planning of future golfing vacations!

The resort ratings are compiled by travel writers, and the ratings reflect all the aspects of the resort . . . not just the golf. The categories include golf challenge, beauty, lodging, food and amenities. Amenities aren't very important for me, so I can ignore that category. Food is fairly unimportant unless it is inedible, and local restaurants can usually solve that problem . . . so I discount that category as well. I am very sensitive to the golf, the beauty, and the lodging, so I can select on that basis. You can do a similar weighting of what's important for you.

I thought that the golf challenge rankings were much too similar. For example, Indian Wells in California was ranked much like La Quinta and for me there is no comparison. But you can read the slope and index, and look at sample holes and make your own judgments.

I suspect that resorts that are well known got a little overrated. I like Spanish Bay, but I wouldn't rate the course number two for golf challenge ahead of 98 other resorts, including nearby Pebble Beach.

But the best part of the book can be found in the spectacular two-page color spreads of views of the courses and natural beauty of the surroundings. It felt like a vacation just to see these lush scenes! I was impressed to see that many midwestern courses offer interesting challenges, which I would never have realized had I not seen this book. The overall top rated resort from the perspective of this book is The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin. It definitely looks like a resort I would like to try, and I would never have considered it otherwise.

The main drawback of this book is that it only rates the golf resorts in the United States. Since golf resorts are expensive compared to air fare, it would have been better to rate the worldwide golf resorts. Many of the top resorts in Europe would easily nose out all but the top 20 or so on this list. A secondary drawback is that the rating is done as though the resort is always attractive to visit. Some of these places are only worth playing on for a few months of the year (such as Mount Washington in New Hampshire), while others are terrific for 12 months a year (such as the Hawaiian courses). So be careful when you plan to go!

After you finish examining these beautifully interesting choices, I suggest that you also consider what else can be done in the area. After all, you usually won't be playing 36 holes a day.

Have a well rounded vacation!

This book is unreal! The pictures are captivating . . . as if I was looking down the 18th fairway at Harbour Town! A must have for the avid golfer.

Jane Butler-Biggs and editor Alison Daniels? We should bless their very socks and shoes, for in writing The Feng Shui Directory, they have given us a book that shines like a beacon out of the musty, dusty, teetering pile of current Feng Shui titles. Everytime I dip into this book, it starts my synapses zinging!
The Feng Shui Directory helps us to change our attitiudes, not just our furniture. It shows us how to PAY ATTENTION, giving us the skills to recognise how our homes affect us, and, reciprocally, how our behaviour and thinking affect our homes.
Consider the chapter on prosperity. It begins with several thought-provoking questions to ask ourselves regarding
abundance. It goes on to offer solutions for long-term patterns of poverty, a ritual to promote abundance and several methods to to invite sucess into our lives. With a wonderful assortment of practical techniques to apply all over the house and garden, it even informs us how many changes to make at a given time, how fast to do them and how to tell if youve gone a bit overboard boosting your wood energy!
The Feng Shui Directory is a really supportive book, written with much compassion, humour and crystal clear common-
sense. As a Feng Shui practitioner, I recommend this book to those clients, who, in the true spirit of transformation, really wish to explore the art behind the placement.
It 's a great book!

Excelent book of fheng shiu, easy, dinamic, well organice, interesting. The perfect book to underestand this ancient art of well living as a beginner.

The Feng Shui Directory is a great way to start Feng Shiu and learn more about it. Much more than a guide to interior decorating or an ancient scheme of superstitions, Feng Shui is presented along with all the psychological and scientific benefits.

This book isn't organized - like other books of it's sort - by the rooms in your home. Instead, chapters like "Family" or "Love and Realtionships" describe how to use Feng Shiu to change different areas of your life. Feng Shiu is presented as a way of thinking and getting in touch with yourself, not as a guide to rearranging furniture.

The authors take a minimalistic approach - change slowly, over time, and feel things out. You won't be told where the table must go, but how to tap into your intuition and figure out (within the guidelines of Feng Shui) where you might best place it.

The entire book is in full color, and the illustrations and "Quick Fixes" sections are a great addition. This book is probably too general for the experienced Feng Shui-er seeking to improve specific areas of his/her life, but overall it's a definite thumbs up.

This book is fabulous. I have purchased many feng shui books and this ranks as one of the best. It does a better job than any other book relating psychological issues to feng shui. It is very well laid out and easy to read in sections, or at one time. Much more thought provoking about how your life relates to your environment than the others. No trite cures here. It would be good to read a more basic feng shui book before this one so you understand the bagua etc. This book does not cover that, it seems to assume that you know the basics. A real winner. I have ordered more for friends.