Standards Books

I salute this author with his kind of patience to walk through the implementation of the tiny PIM with the STL and with very detail and clear explanation. He has started his plan well with the class diagrams. I have learnt and pickup a number of good programming techniques (as simple as the various way of string manipulation) from this book and going to try as many STL as possible in my project development using Borland Kylix 3 Professional (C++), GNU g++/gcc, Visual C++ Professional 6, Borland C++ 5.02 and Borland C++ Builder.

Great intermediate explanation of the C++ Standard Library complete with a project from beginning to end. I especially liked the approach the book took by equating its premise to learning a foreign language by interacting with native speakers rather then memorizing the vocabulary.

This is a very good approach to teaching the standard library. The author has a style very similar to mine, so perhaps I'm biased... but I don't think so. He writes clearly and with a purpose in mind: to help the reader understand the material as thoroughly as possible. And he accomplishes his goal, with only a few typos along the way as minor distractions.

One point I should clarify, though: as far as I can tell, Jesse Liberty's contribution to this book consists of having his name on the cover. While this is unfortunate for the actual author, whose real accomplishments are undermined by that association, it is much better for the reader than if Mr. Liberty had actually had anything to do with the writing of the book. In that case, I would have expected to see much less clarity in the explanations and hundreds of errors, as those are his trademarks.

Kudos to Mr. Halpern! Keep writing... but under your own recognizance. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a publisher who will take you on without any "sponsorship". Good, clear technical writing is hard to find.

After returning every STL book I've purchased I caught this book here on Amazon. Pablo Halpern does a great deed to the STL community by putting out a great book on STL topped off by the use of UML to help students understand the full cycle of developing an application. If you're new to the programming world this is a MUST have to quide you along analysis, design, and implementation with a concrete example. If you're a seasoned pro but are missing STL from your life ( much like I was til I read this book ) this book will get you going. Halpern does a great job of keeping the example on an open architecture, so for those of us who want more than in-memory persistence and a command line UI implement a database and our choice of UI for the example. I myself turned this into a great COM+ web application using ASP for presentation and an added layer of COM+ data objects from my collection to hit a SQL Server 2000 database...

I am half way through this book and thoroughly enjoying it. The STL is incredibly powerful. I have read Josuttis' book, which is also a great book, but once I finished it, I felt that I had a obtained a great appreciation for the STL, but was still a little uncomfortable using it. With this book I feel that I am getting a better feel for the library because I'm actually using it in the context of a real application and am able to experience first hand the usage and trade offs of the different containers/algorithms contained within the STL. Between the two books, I think that I will be well on my way to becoming STL proficient. Simply by working through this book, you will gain many months worth of valuable programming experience.

CiscoPress's "Cisco DQOS Exam Certification Guide" by Odom is a best-of-class book. The book is not for the meek - weighing in at over 850 pages, the book is a sizable investment of time and energy to properly appreciate. While the book was mainly written to be utilized for a few QoS exams, I'd expect to see this book on the bookshelf of many CCIEs or CCIE wannabes (including myself).

The beauty of this book is that it covers QoS in a depth that is not equaled elsewhere. For example, the book's first chapter, simply an overview of QoS, is almost 80 pages (some overview)! The first chapter succinctly describes the differences and nuances of the enemies of QoS - delay, jitter, bandwidth and packet loss. The second and third chapters do a great justice at trying to explain the dizzying array of tools available to adjust QoS - the different classes of tools and the differences between classification and marking. And so forth..., each chapter does a great job at explaining the mysteries of QoS.

Of course, with any book of such complexity, typos must be expected. Two typos that I noticed are:
-on page 333, I believe the correct Bc should be 93.75ms.
-on page 456, FRED can match on layer 4, not layer 3 protocols

If I had a `Top 10' for books that I feel would be necessary for the CCIE, I would place this book on the list. I have not been able to find the same explanations for QoS on Cisco's website or in other networking books.

I give this book 5 pings out of 5:
!!!!!

It seems that everybody likes this book so I won't waste your time writing another long review.
This book is by far the best Cisco book I've read, and I've read a few. It's full of detail and a very very good starting point for QOS.

The team of Cavanaugh & Odom have hit a homerun here. This book has everything; Sex, Politics, Intrigue, Suspense, Greed, Betrayal and Redemption. Well, okay, it has none of that. But, it does have everything that the Experienced Networker could want to know about Quality of Service, and it's role and implementation within today's rapidly converging internetnetworks. The authors have proven to be knowledgeable, insightful and easy to understand. And, while this book may seem "overly long" to many, it strives to give fairly complete coverage of this important matter regarding today's internetworking environment. This is a very important point when your seeking to spend some "quality time" with a Cisco certification exam (not mention some quality cash on an exam).

Cavanaugh & Odom have moved beyond the normal course of just re-editing Cisco TAC web content for bound, portable consumption that is the hallmark of many of Cisco Press' previous publications. While the layout will be familiar to previous C.P. readers, the actual format and content presentation is fresh. Each chapter's order and flow strongly adheres to the tried and true, but Illustrations, Diagrams, Scenarios and Examples are not just simply reprinted fare from Cisco's website. Each chapter's content is easily on par with all other Authors/Publishers that are typically quoted as being "easier to digest and understand". Even the book's index is surprisingly extensive and comprehensive, and misses very few important items. When the working examples actually are repackaged from Cisco's web content, the explanations and follow-throughs are incisive and accurate. Knowledge and understanding can be gained from every page without overkill or excessive repetition.

Any exam candidate seeking an in-depth review and preparation for the Cisco QOS or DQOS exams will find this book a treasure trove chocked full of the expected scenerios, examples and practice questions. All networking professionals should strongly consider stocking this in their personal reference collection for handy lookups to otherwise difficult QOS problems. However, I caution one, if you're seeking a quick and simple introduction to QOS, or looking to "break into" or "get their foot in the door" of internetworking, you should go elsewhere. This is definitely not the kiddy end of the pool. But then again, it certainly won't require the deep sea background of a CCIE either. This manual may start with the foundations of QOS but it very quickly ramps up to a professional-level internetworking reference. This is a book that goes beyond the classroom and heads straight for the real world.

As my industry and workplace move further towards voice and data "Convergence", this book has quickly become my working cookbook for smoothing out tough QOS implementation questions. And, It shall remain an important part of my desktop reference library for a long time to come.

I recently read the book titled "Cisco DQOS Exam Certification Guide" by Wendell Odom, ISBN: 1587200589.
This book takes the user through the topic of Deploying Quality of Service in Cisco networks to a new level of knowledge. QoS has become one of the hottest if not the hottest topic in enterprise and medium size business networks. The ability to control traffic based on its priority and the ability to prioritize the traffic based on any number of criteria has become a required skill in today's marketplace. To Quote from Cisco's Web Site "Quality of Service (QoS) is an essential element to building a flexible, accessible, and efficient network. Its role in multiple technologies underlines the need for most networking professionals to master the features that implement QoS" The advent of Cisco's AVVID network and the proliferation of IP telephone services and applications along with the advancement in Video Conferencing and Group Collaboration software have created an unprecedented need for Quality of Service implementation. This book is filled with examples and thorough explanations of many complicated and essential configurations. The authors display a thorough knowledge of this sometimes difficult and always challenging subject. There are numerous charts and graphs to help aid in understanding the concepts presented. This book takes the reader step by step through configuration of all of the commonly use techniques and gives the user a good understanding of not only how to enter the commands but also what the commands do and how they interact. The topics covered in this book will give a CCIE R/S candidate essentially all of the skills needed for the QoS portions of the CCIE Practical Exam. The book covers all of the currently available traffic prioritization and queuing methods in a high degree of detail. It is, I think, geared towards an audience of knowledgeable professionals who already have some knowledge in the area of QoS. The book provides a reader with the tools necessary to implement virtually any needed QoS features in his/her own network. I would rate it as a MUST HAVE reference for anyone who might be required to implement QoS in a Cisco environment. This is a winner for Cisco Press. It proves once again the commitment to excellence of Cisco Press and delivers a book that is very useful to anyone involved in the implementation of the topic it covers. The authors have taken a difficult subject and broken it down into manageable chunks. At the end of the day the user will have a good understanding of the broad topic of QoS and have the tools necessary to implement it in a Cisco environment.

Let me just start off by saying that I wish I had Wendell Odom's Cisco DQoS Exam Certification Guide a few months ago when I was studying for this exam. I had looked at a number of other Cisco Press and non-Cisco Press books and could not find one that adequately covered the topics in the exam. This one covers all of them and more.

The book starts off by listing all the exam topics that will be covered in both DQoS 9E0-601 and QOS 642-641 exams and then explains how to interpret those often nebulous expectations. Do not get me wrong. It does not give you a blow by blow of what is on the exam but rather informs you of how test makers come up with course objectives and a method to use in studying. I found this very helpful. In fact, I wish someone had taught me that as a freshman in college.

If you are familiar with Cisco Press Exam Certification Guides you will not be disappointed in the familiar format. Each chapter starts with an overview and "Do I Know This Already?" quiz. I always find these helpful in determining my level of knowledge on a particular subject and those areas I need to study.

It then proceeds to the meat of each chapter. They are filled with many useful diagrams and tables that do a wonderful job complimenting and expanding Odom's covering of each chapter. There are plenty of switch and router configurations that also provide help in giving real life examples of how QoS is implemented.

Each chapter then wraps up with an excellent Foundation Summary and Q&A section. Answers to the questions are found in an appendix in the back of the book.

In general I found all of the topics covered as well, if not better, than the DQoS class I took to study and pass the test. In particular I found the first two chapters great in providing a great overview of QoS, its architectures and tools. I have used Odom's example of bank teller lines, with a number of customers, to provide a way of explaining the difficult topic of QoS and it quickly resonates with them.

I also found the last two chapters on QoS Design and LAN QoS very useful. The LAN QoS chapter provides information on the 3550s and latest Modules/Supervisor Engine cards for the Catalyst 6500 and 4500/4000. I have already used this information as a resource on a project. The design chapter has also been useful in helping me "flesh out" customer's goals and providing design recommendations based upon those goals.

In conclusion, I always feel that for a study guide to truly be useful, it must have some use after the exam. Wendell Odom's Cisco DQoS Exam Certification Guide certainly does that well. It will not only be sufficient in providing you the information that you need to study for and pass the test, but it will certainly be useful as a quick reference guide on many of the topics covered. I plan on having it with me from the project planning stages to the optimizing and troubleshooting stages (although if your good and follow his teachings on the former you probably will not have much of the latter). Thanks Wendell for another well written and useful book.

A very good reference guide for any new/existing cme/cue deployment. Specifically the sample config guides were very useful. Overall this book is well written.

Cisco IP Communications Express: CallManager Express with Cisco Unity Express (ISBN 1-58705-180-X) is an all-in-one resource for configuring, managing, and troubleshooting the Cisco CallManager Express (CME) solution. It is almost 900 pages and is well organized into five parts: overview, feature operation and applications, administration and management, maintenance and troubleshooting, and appendices. If you are involved in configuring or maintaining the Cisco CallManger Express, this book will provide you with all the information you need to get your work done.

Cisco CME is an integrated solution offered by Cisco for meeting the IP telephony needs of small businesses or branch offices. The CME solution, which consists of the call processing feature and the voice mail feature, runs on the Cisco routers ranging from the 1700 series to the 3700 series and beyond. Whereas the CallManager suite offers centralized approach to building out an enterprise wide VoIP network, the CME is meant to serve the needs of smaller businesses or to integrate seamlessly into the larger, enterprise solution.

The book is well written and starts out with a high level architecture of the deployment scenarios for CME. The second part gets into the features and applications side of the solution. This part is where the crux of the book lies. It presents a detailed coverage of the commands used to configure the CallManager solution under various scenarios such as implementing different call features, integrating VoIP with PSTN, and deploying CME as part of a larger CallManager solution. This part presents a thorough coverage of Unity Express (UE), the voicemail module of the CME. The third part relates to the management of CME. Particularly useful in this part is a real-life configuration example as it illustrates and brings together a lot of the material covered in the earlier part of the book. Part four gets into the essential topic of troubleshooting the CME solution. It provides useful tips and solutions for common problems found in deploying the call processing and voice mail aspects of CME. This is definitely a very useful section of the book. The last part, the appendices, has reference materials and scripts used in the book to make daily tasks easier etc.

One of the strong points of the book is a multitude of sample configurations. The authors provide sample configurations throughout the book to help illustrate the concepts being presented. This sample configuration goes a long way if the reader has the task of actually configuring CME. The other strong point of the book is the depth of coverage given to each topic that is discussed. With the exception of a handful of topics (one in particular which I'll mention), the book never glosses over any topic; rather it covers it in detail, ensuring that most aspects of the topic are addressed. The exception to this was the coverage of the D/A module(s) used for attaching analog devices to CME, such as a fax machine. Given that analog fax machines still constitute a critical part of any business, I would expect this topic to be covered in detail. However, I found that no configuration examples were provided on how to configure this in the CME suite.

In summary, this book is a great all-in-one reference for configuring and managing CME. I would highly recommend it to any professional tasked with working on Cisco's CallManager Express.

overall this book is very good. I like the examples it presents to make thing clear, and also the broadness of topics it covers.
Since Cisco IP Telephony evolves so quickly, I wish Cisco will release newer editions with updated technologies. in particular I was hoping this book should contribute some to SIP and its deployment in UCME environment.

I've used this book as a main reference for my first complete implementation of CCME and CUE. I said "main" reference instead of "only" reference, because there are few small gaps to be filled by Cisco on-line documentation, but the deficiencies are too small to justify anything less than 5 stars. Additionally, there is a lot of general (IP and traditional) telephony information so even a relative beginner, after reading this book, will be able to intelligently interview future users (Chapter 5 is simply brilliant!), design quite complex system with many fancy call features, and even create scripts for quite sophisticated Auto-Attendant options. Certain concepts are not explained in complete detail (for example dial peers or voice ports), but deeply enough for the needs of CCME.

A must have book


This book is a great tool for full and complete understanding of Cisco's IP Communication Express. The structure is geared to first provide a foundation with an overview, then moves into design and implementation the book is organized into different parts that provide great coverage of all aspects.

Part I starts with introducing IP Communication. The coverage begins by taking you on a journey into what Cisco IPC is, the benefits of IPC, and the architecture of IPC networks. The one thing you notice is that the authors took great care in organizing the chapters. Each chapter is well written and easy to follow along. This makes the book a great choice as either a first learning book or as a refresher book for experienced professionals looking to augment their knowledge. One of the first chapters shows you the features and functions of the various gateways, WAN interfaces and IP phones available for use in an IPC network. This allows you to pick the best equipment for your particular solution. I believe this is great because it allows you learn some features of the product in order to decide if you would like to research it further; this helps streamline the process of design and political issues. Another section of the Part 1 goes over the architecture of IPC. You will learn the ins and outs of what happens at a low level. You will learn a-lot of core information; get an introduction to equipment and technologies that can be utilized.


Part II of this book is where the fun begins. Chapter 4 goes over the IP phones in more detail. You are taught about features and how to configure the individual phones. The chapter is short and to the point. Chapter 5 is an incredible book where the engineers' ears will perk up. Call Manager Call processing features are presented in this chapter. The topics here include hunt groups, call parking, shared lines, intercom, paging and much more. I really like the configurations and examples in this book. With this chapter you will be able to quickly implement the CM features.
The next chapter deals with Connectivity to the PSTN. The focuses in this chapter are signaling and how to handle the inputted digits. One of the only faults I think with this book is that chapters 5 and 6 should be swapped.

Part III and IV cover Administration, Management, Maintenance and Troubleshooting
Now is really where the techies cheer up. Here is all the goodies on how to setup CME, UE, and what to do if problems arise. The gold mine is located in these 2 parts.
These chapters provide the reader with detail and examples to help reinforce all that is being explained.

I don't want to spoil this book or be long winded so I will say the remaining pages of this book are well worth the read. It covers everything you need in order to obtain a solid understanding of Cisco's IPC. There is no area that isn't covered with attention to detail. The authors provide quality information that is very useful in all areas of understanding and implementation of Cisco IP Express. The reader will come away with exceptional and relevant knowledge to do anything needed with IPC. I got this book to help augment my 4+ years with Cisco Voice products, I feel that it did help cement my knowledge and also taught me quite a few new things.


Brion S. Washington

These poems are written in the style of Shel Silverstein, a favorite of our grade school grandchildren. Clever humor in poetry just the right length for kids produces Bible stories that will be read and remembered. Read a few of the poems and your smile will increase and you will be eagerly finding "just one more" before you put the book down.

This is a very creative book of poetry. Great fun for the whole family!!

Your child's Christian bookshelf needn't be filled only with serious books. The Bible itself contains some pretty amusing tales (Balaam's talking donkey is an excellent example!), so why shouldn't books about the Bible be fun, too? Enter Don't Mess with Moses! by songwriter Marty Nystrom. Packed with fun and laugh-out-loud poems, this volume is sure to please any kid.

Reminding me a bit of Shel Silverstein, Nystrom manages to pack page after page with humorous poems telling Old Testament stories or making comments on them. There are poems about the Bible's best-selling status, the SHEroes of the Bible, quips about not being a descendant of apes, Adam's extremely short family tree, the first sibling rivals (Cain and Abel), Noah's crazy ark, and much, much more. The poem recounting the days of creation - and another about the plagues of Egypt - are a great way to help your kids memorize parts of the Bible, and many of the poems will help your child see Bible stories in a new light. For example, there's a poem thanking God for creating light, otherwise "I am sure a sleepyhead,/you bet I'd forget/when to roll out of bed." Another poem draws attention to the fact that money, television, and many other things can act as our modern-day "golden calves." Another points out that

"Adam had no cousins,
Adam had no toys,
he never went to recess,
or played ball with other boys...
Adam never had a childhood."

And some poems are just plain fun. One, about Samson's hair, suggests children point out that story when their parents want them to get a hair cut. Another focuses on a young boy's horror when he develops a side ache; he's sure God is making his aching rib into a wife for him. One of my favorites from the volume, titled "Messy," is the poem of a little boy who is constantly making messes that are tough for his mother to clean up. He gets spaghetti on her "dry clean only" skirt, catsup on his brother's brand new shirt, and frosting all over his face.

"Good thing ol' Adam had no mom;
he'd get his feelings hurt,
'cause the Bible says that Adam was
completely made of dirt!"

The accompanying illustration shows the boy walking away from a mess saying "Just bein' biblical, Mom."

What I Like: This book is such a fun way to get your kids more involved with Bible stories. It appeals to a very wide age range (my 2 1/2 year old loves it...and so do I!). The sketchy, wacky illustrations by Steve Bjorkman are exactly what was called for. Best of all, the author prompts readers to set down the book and explore the Bible itself. Several poems don't reveal the ending of certain Bible stories, and instead tell the reader to check a particular chapter of the Bible. And nearly every poem is accompanied by a "read more" note, pointing to a particular chapter or verse. I think this is a book every Christian family should own.

What I Dislike: There's little to dislike here, but some parents will be put off by the fact that the days of creation poem is told Monday through Sunday. This isn't historically accurate, and not all Christian worship on Sunday. Also, in one poem about David and Goliath, a large illustration depicts Goliath's head with blood splattering from it. Parents of younger children may want to skip that two-page spread.

Overall Rating: Excellent.

[...]

This is a very cute "Shel Silverstein" type selection of poems based on Old Testament stories. They are fun as bedtime stories or great intros for Sunday School/Hebrew Scripture Synagogue lessons.

I know what I'll be putting under the tree for my niece and nephew this year. Thanks to Marty Nystrom (As the Deer) for this wonderful book! Parents should read this to their children along with "The Beginner's Bible." The stories come alive in exciting ways with poems like "The Invasion of the Swamp Creatures" (the plague of frogs in Egypt) and "Grandpa is Not a Gorilla." This book is so much fun, I will be putting it under the tree for some grownups, too.

Reviewed by Jim Hattabaugh, superintendent, Mansfield School District, Mansfield, Ark.

A catchy title does not always produce a book that catches your attention from front to back. Gene V Glass accomplishes both, grabbing your immediate attention with the title, Fertilizers, Pills, and Magnetic Strips, and keeping your attention throughout the entire book.

Glass, a Regents' professor at Arizona State University, does an outstanding job of explaining the education reform movement and debunking what is behind this seemingly unending political football that occupies the daily toils and troubles of administrators, students and parents.

Especially enlightening is the way the author debunks the crisis in education based on a global comparison of student test scores. He explains in detail the fallacies and errors in these comparisons as covered by the mainstream news media. Glass also tackles the politically hot issue of accountability and ethnicity.

Readers familiar with the work of Gerald Bracey, a longtime debunker of unfair criticism of the public schools and the educators who work in them, should add Glass to their list of must reading. This especially easy-to-read book is so expertly set forth that the 311 pages of text and data were completed in two sittings. The up-to-date data he uses to illustrate the central points blend perfectly with the author's historical perspective.

"Fertilizers, Pills, and Magnetic Strips" is one of the most interesting books I've read on U.S. education in a long time- and I've read several dozen over the past few years. Dr. Glass mentions in the book that he got inspiration from Jared Diamond's excellent Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, which looked at the impact of technology in shaping civilizations throughout human history. Dr. Glass makes the argument that the inventions of artificial fertilizers, contraceptives and life-extending medications, industrial robots, and the personal credit card have led to huge changes in American society during the 20th century. As a result of these demographic changes, Dr. Glass argues that the older, whiter voting public has abandoned its support for government-run schools that educate "other peoples' children".

The book is strongest in Part II, the chapters devoted to tracing the impact of technology in changing U.S. demographics. I found this section to be fascinating and very thought-provoking. If it were possible to rate each portion of the book separately, this part deserves 5 stars.

Where I found Dr. Glass' arguments to be flawed, however, was in his treatment of the state of government-run education. He unconvincingly repeats all the tired old liberal claims about the topic. In his view, the crisis in the schools has been "manufactured" for political reasons in order to destroy government-run schools. He devotes much space in the book to diatribes against standardized testing, charter schools, vouchers and tax credits for private schools, homeschooling, cyberschools, open enrollment and other school choice programs, alternative teacher certification programs like Teach for America, and so on.

Even though the book has a copyright date of 2008, Dr. Glass often uses older studies to support his positions while ignoring more recent studies that would undermine them. For example, he uses a small 1998 study to make the claim that homeschoolers are 94% non-Hispanic whites, 1% blacks, and <1% Hispanics. Why did he ignore the much larger 2003 National Center for Educational Statistics survey that found homeschoolers to be 77% non-Hispanic whites, 9% blacks, and 5% Hispanics? The latter numbers are a lot closer to the overall school-age population, which in 2003 was 61% non-Hispanic whites, 15% blacks, and 17% Hispanics. Yes, blacks and Hispanics are somewhat underrepresented among homeschoolers but it's not even remotely as much as Dr. Glass would have his readers believe. Dr. Glass similarly cherry-picks his data on many other "hot button" educational issues.

Dr. Glass also has a highly annoying tendency to make accusations of racism/xenophobia without providing any objective evidence that it truly is at work. He admits as much in his appendix, where he states that his "personal preference is for psychoanalysis to explain many of the most important aspects of human behavior...I see something akin to the 'defense mechanisms' at work in the intellectualizing of motives of both experts and ordinary people around questions of racial and ethnic segregation in public education. No one likes to be accused of being prejudiced, but most of us are." Conjectures like this do not belong in a scholarly work- just stick to the facts, please!

Overall, I recommend "Fertilizers, Pills, and Magnetic Strips" despite the weaknesses in the author's discussions of the current state of government-run schools and of alternatives to those schools.

Glass's "Fertilizers, Pills, and Magnet Strips" is a must read for anyone interested in public education and its place within American culture. Glass uncovers how technological advances have shaped our way of life and way of thinking--a way of thinking that may explain why education reform efforts continue to flounder. As an educational policy researcher, I constantly grapple with why it is so difficult for policymakers to understand education. Glass adeptly and meticulously describes how the evolution of business practices, technological advances, and cultural fads have intersected and led to a narrow view of public education. His book has clarified for me why so many people have unrealistic expectations from public schooling.

Glass's writing is accessible, authoritative, and interesting. But, that is just the start. The real punch in this book comes from his creativity and innovation in weaving together the ways in which cultural processes have impacted how we see public education.

if you care about public education at all, you must read this book.

I am a teacher in the Texas public schools, and I can tell you from my own experience that what this book says about Texas is absolutely true.

The analyses and projections Glass presents are spot on in my view. That the US will become older and browner is evident from US Census data. But Occam's razor could well be applied to "fertilizers, pills, and magnetic strips." These are metonyms for technologies that have indeed had wide-ranging consequences, but they are very distal determinants of the present status or likely future of US pre-collegiate education.

The sub-title is also problematic. The book deals with the politics and economics of education in the US. Accepting the five projections in Chapter 10 in no way defines the 'fate' of public education in the US. That will be what 'we' make it. Glass' analyses of current belief systems regarding education are scathing. But belief systems can be changed (per George Lakoff's work). And overriding beliefs is Boulding's wisdom: "We make our tools and then they shape us." Combine this with the wisdom of Josiah Royce, emblazoned over the stage at Royce Hall, UCLA, (when I was a student. They remodeled the building and I don't know what's there now): "Education is learning to use the tools humanity (Royce said 'the race' but 'humanity' would be the term used today) has found indispensable" and you have a pretty good two-sentence guide.

Ironically, in the end Glass goes soft-headed, " The only reform [sic] that stands any chance of making our public schools better is the investment on teachers--to aide them in their quest to understand, to learn. Go become more compassionate, caring, and competent persons." (p. 249) That's a fool's errand--well-intentioned, but foolish in the sense that it hasn't had the intended consequences in the past and offers little for the future. If Ray Kurzweil's projections in "Singularity" are even half-right, it's going to be a different future for instruction.

My story of how US schooling got to where it is currently is simpler than Glass' story. As Glass states, prior to the mid-50s the aspiration was to enroll all kids in high school. Prior to that time, schools handled instructional failures by tossing kids out or counseling them out. With "full access," weaknesses started to show.

Historically, all media information regarding schooling was local, focusing on athletics and 'human interest' anecdotes. Even today, only a handful of newspapers cover schooling nationally. That gain is an important consequence of NCLB, but even there the accounts largely swallow whole governmental news releases.

The move that began in 1965 to make schooling a matter of national interest was important. The subsequent history could be titled "Bureaucrats, academics, and publishers." The small number of individuals who constituted the Beltway Consensus bought, and still buy, Jim Coleman's contention (based on shoddy "research") that "families matter more than schooling," "education spending is unrelated to educational achievement," and "school integration across socioeconomic lines (and hence across racial lines) will increase Negro achievement, and they throw serious doubt upon the effectiveness of policies designed to increase non-personal resources in the school." (The self-serving interests Glass exposes are evident.)

By the mid-1980s it was all-too-clear that "school integration" was not getting the job done. "High standards "was the answer, culminating in the "Goals 2000" legislation. Of course 2000 came with none of the goals met. No one recognized that the "standards" were rhetoric masked as "content." The consensus was that "accountability" via standardized achievement tests is the answer. Hence NCLB. (Same self-serving interests.)

What has the academy been doing? Not much. Glass tells that story. What he doesn't explain is why those who understand the flaws in NAEP and all standardized achievement tests have sat with their thumbs in their mouths.

Publishers are culpable in that they provide the tools that define schooling instruction. The publisher line is that they "only respond to market demands." This means they're unaccountable and unregulated. Their 'offerings' are junk, but bureaucrats and academics give them a free ride.

So what to do? Again it's a simple story. Borrow from the corporate world the notion of "business intelligence" and "key performance indicators." Also borrow from the IT sector and several large corporations the notion of structured "certification of capability." This "gets a handle" on schooling and permits real cost-benefit analysis of instructional accomplishments. Further, recognize that schools today provide important societal services (e.g. health screening and nutrition provision) in addition to instruction. Ironically, instruction is the weakest benefit of schooling and the other benefits go unrecognized.

A few final reactions: "Appendix A: Notes on Theory, Research, and Policy" alone is worth the price of the book. If it were read by every student as a freshman, every legislator, and anyone remotely concerned with schooling, the future of education would be a good deal brighter.

The practice of documenting with footnotes on the relevant page as well as references and indexes at the end of the book is welcome and should be standard practice. The use of footnotes is judicious and the occasional accompanying elaboration makes the communication more interactive.

The exposition is a model of 'good writing.' Strunk and White, where ever they are, are no doubt exchanging high-fives. someone followed their advice. I didn't always buy what Glass was saying, but there was never any doubt about the substance of the communication. The communication warrants consideration by anyone in any way concerned with US schooling.

Each member of our Bible study group purchased a copy of the Gospel of Luke and are learning so much. We continue to be amazed at the scholarship of Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch in writing the commentary to this Gospel. The other books in this series are equally great, and we can hardly wait until they finish their research of the entire Bible.

This was a great book to use in reaserh for the person in religiuos study. I highly recommend this book.

This is a wonderful guide. I highly recommend it to everyone, students, teachers and ministers. As a general study guide it is invaluable.
Students of theology and those people interested in a more detailed study, would probably like to supplement this with Jerome's Commentary and those of Raymond E. Brown especially the anchor bible series.
This guide includes topical and word studies that are very well done.

Like the other study guides by Scott Hahn, The Gospel of Luke provides enriching insight and background to these sacred writings. These guides are ideal for discussion groups.

This is a great tool for understanding the Gospel of luke. The book starts off with an introduction explaining the inerrancy and the authority of scripture and the proper way of interpreting it. There are many helpful notes, word studies, and essays in this book. One of the essays is on Mary Ark of the covenant,another is on Jesus, the son of Man. The study questions in the back of the book are helpful for understanding and applying Gods word to our life. This whole series has helped me have a better understanding and a greater love for Gods word.

I love this book! As a DJ with 15 years in the business, the author has said what everyone else was afraid to say. This is the all-out truth about DJ myths and marketing. Highly recommend this book.

I received How To Avoid DJ Horror Stories as a shower gift. As a bride-to-be, this book quickly became my best friend! It is as funny as it is informative. (The cartoon illustrations are really funny!) I learned so much from reading it that when it came time to interview DJs, I was able to spot, ahead of time, some of the myths and sleazy tactics referenced in the book. It actually saved me time (a precious commodity when planning a wedding). I especially liked Chapter 13, AFAQs (Answers to Frequently Asked Questions). The author literally answered every question that crossed my mind. Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised with how easy the book was to read; it felt like the author was actually talking to me. How To Avoid DJ Horror Stories is a "must have" for any bride going the DJ route. Highly recommended!!!

In such a vast field as DJ services, it nice to be able to find the true gems among the pack. This book was instrumental in helping me select a DJ for my wedding, and I was EXTREMELY pleased with the results. If you want to know how to identify a "line" when you hear one from a DJ, GET THIS BOOK!

I've been a Disc Jockey for 25 years and have seen it all - this is hilarious - be careful who you book though. Read this and you should get a good Disc Jockey and have a great wedding/party!

Mr. Harrison is probably a good mobile dj but he makes the mistake of assuming regional preferences (such as clients not wanting lighting) and that most weddings go 4 hours is true all over. More importantly, there are numerous occasions where he states his opinion as fact. If these were truly facts, there would be documentation to back them up. There is a lot of good advice in this book but it's mixed in with a lot of opinions and outdated information which the target audience would like have difficulty sifting through.

Wegner brings a clarity to the topic that I have long been looking for. A great read for those of you who are lost in the maze of TCPIP. Very clear and complete. Great section on routing protocols for beginners. When will Wegner write some more?

This book has answered questions I have had for a long time. A great read for those of you who are lost in the maze of TCPIP. Very clear and complete. Great section on routing protocols for beginners.

This book covers every aspect of the current version, as well as what will be a widespread migration starting in late 1999. These include: increasing the IP address size from 32 bits to 128 bits; supporting more levels of addressing hierarchy and an increased number of addressable nodes; supporting simpler auto-configuration of addresses; improving the scalability of multicast routing by adding a "scope" field to multicast addresses; and using a new "anycast address" to send a packet to any one of a group of nodes. As in other Syngress books, this one makes a complex subject accessible by including appendices, summaries, extensive art, and detailed indexes. This book should have been there in your shelf!

Although the large text font (and relatively large price) suggests ulterior motives by the publisher, IP Addressing is a decent reference for subnetting and network addressing.

The language is kept fairly high-level, and most of the explanations are clearly written--if a little terse--with a fair number of tables and charts making the book accessible for both novices and more advanced users alike.

Since there are scant few books out there that are specifically dedicated to IP administration, this book exists as a viable option for system admins and curious readers.

Not really very much more to say. If you need to know about IP addressing and subnetting get it here. A cover to cover read in two weeks and never forgotten!

This product provides a blueprint for supplychain continous improvement. Full of strategies to build a robust program for supplychain improvement...one should take their time to carefully understand the text to implement and execute the strategies

I am really pleased to read this book cos I am dealing with one inventory project. I found it is helpful.

Excellent reference for supply chain improvement

James Martin's book, "Lean Six Sigma for Supply Chain Management: The ten step solution process", is an excellent resource. It is written for supply chain professionals to explain six sigma process methodologies and how they can be applied to improving real business processes.

Mr. Martin does an excellent job of pulling together a broad set of information to explain these quality improvement methodolgies and how these can be applied to supply chain processes. He has created a great reference. This is the type of book that you want to read while your working on a process improvement project. The concepts are directly applicable.

This is most definitely a book for Supply Chain and Operations Management practitioners. If the reader is looking for a high level review of the subject matter, I would not recommend this book. This book is a serious, dense study of the material with practical applications and techniques.

Of the various industry texts that I have read, this is probably the "slowest read" mostly because there is so much content and meaning in each section. At the same time, the book design is modular so that the practitioner may skip chapters and study just their focus area. Mr. Martin definitely displays his expertise with fluff-free, accurate, and useful information. A must read for people serious about transforming their supply chains.

For me this book provided exceptional details with which to get your supply chain failures and problems under control. The section covering "Root Cause Analysis" presents the reader with detailed descriptions and examples of analytical methods useful for evaluationg the data associated with the supply chain process. The book demonstrates the myriad of elements that can run the supply chain process into a company quagmmire. This reader felt quite familiar with a number of the typical sins that cause supply chains to malfunction at the most crucial times in a company's commitment to a timely delivery process.

This book does an excellent job explaining tcp/ip, not just for the test but for real life use and reference also. It is well written in that there is little fluff - just the important stuff explained in a very articulate manner. There are a lot of helpful diagrams and follow along Windows NT configuration screens. It has a great explanation of ip addressing and subnetting (though I only had one easy exam question on that). All the other important topics were well explained - utilities, netbios and host name resolution, hosts and lmhosts, wins, dns, dhcp, snmp, routing, tcp/ip printing, routing, and one of the best explainations I have ever read on the browser service in a routed network. Even though the tcp/ip exam is retiring soon I suggest this book to all involved in learning networking with NT, plus I understand that Microsoft considers tcp/ip so important that they are actually merging it into the curriculum for MCSE NT 2000 - therefore it is really not being retired as an outdated subject and will be important to those seeking that certification. One minor complaint is that it barely mentioned RAS. I had two questions on the exam about RAS relating to routing and pptp. I would suggest reading a bit more in depth on RAS and VPN before the exam. The review questions at the end of each chapter are pretty good at challenging you on important contnet of the chapter. However as always I recommend a second book to study for any exam. I supplemented this book with Exam Cram for TCP/IP which was also excellent and had a whole lot of practice questions along with 20 plus scenario questions very similar to what you would see on the actual exam. It is also best to learn this topic on a practice network at home if possible. There is no substitute to actually configuring a dhcp, dns, or wins server yourself. The material you need to learn is all here, but it is important not to just understand it but to know it. A typical exam question would be along the lines of - you are on a subnetted network with routers and you can ping a workstation on a remote network using its' ip address but you can't see it in network neighborhood or maybe you can't connect to it using its' host name via ftp - why? There were quite a few questions on the exam about what utlity to use for a particular task - ping, nbtstat, netstat, tracert, arp, rsh, lpq, lpr, lpd, etc. Great book and I really enjoyed reading it and oh yeah I passed the test!

The ATEC course was just not enough and other books I bought didn't seem to do the trick. Then I found this little gem. Clear, concise, to the point with some humor to keep it from being too dry and not goofy like some other books. With this, Exam Cram, Sybex's Exam notes, and Trancenders, I passed the first time with a score of 900/1000. Should be required reading in Microsofts training programs!

Pros: Concise, well written, organization. Cons: No answers available for the Study Break sidebars, answers only to review questions. This book left me looking elsewhere for more practice problems (with answers) for subnetting. I gave the author feedback on this, hoping answers would appear online.

I took the test last week after using this book only and got a 966/1000! This book is great and covers all of the material for tcp/ip perfectly. I am experienced with tcp/ip and I learned alot form this book I didnt know and I would say that this book is a must for all people eho want to learn it.

The aouthors writing style is pure genius. Every concept that the author talks about is explain clearly and concisely. Many of the other books I read on the subject left me with questions such as with subnetting. THIS book cleared up everything. The "study breaks" are probably the best part of the book. I am only half way done with this book, which I started tonight, and I have purchased the book on Proxy Serer 2.0 which is just as good if not better! This book is extremely easy to read and is actually fun to study with!