Programs Books

Who would believe that a book on the Theory of Relativity could be written for the masses? Well it was, and this is it. The concepts that the book conveys are mind boggling, yet quite understandable at the same time. You'll never view space, time and the world around you the same again. It's a quick read, but as you'll learn, time is relative.

Suppose all matter in the universe is expanding at a uniform rate and that "gravity" doesn't exist. Also imagine standing atop the Leaning Tower of Pisa and releasing two cannon balls. One weighs one ounce and the other ten pounds. Because the earth is rushing up to meet the balls, both seem to fall to the ground at the same rate. A cannon ball fired into the air seems to follow a curved trajectory back to the earth as the ground rushes up to meet it. A comet passing close to the earth seems to be "attracted" to the earth as we are pushed upwards towards it. Einstein says "gravity" is the effect on the path of a moving object caused by distortions in the geometric structure of the space-time continuum caused by mass. But space is "nothing," so how can "nothing" be distorted? Could the earth and all matter be expanding uniformly and unnoticed by us? Could this expansion be the real cause of what we call "gravity" and not the distortion of "nothing"?

This problem, somewhat simplified here, has been bothering me since I first read this book some forty years ago; if anybody can help enlighten me on this, I'd be glad to hear from you!

Mr. Barnett, a journalist, crossed over into the arena of science, a subject that he had not studied in college. And to the world's amazement, he captured on paper a clear and easy to read explanation of the genius and elegance of Dr. Einstein's theories concerning the very small (quanta) and the very large (space and time).

I feel that this book is a must for any home library. If you are experienced in physics, this book is extremely interesting because it delves deaply into the philosophy that brought Dr. Einstein to his great accomplishments. For those that have little knowledge of relativity, the universe, and quantum matters it offers a great introduction with a minimum of complex math. A simple way to understand how Dr. Einstein changed the entire universe. I have studied Albert for years. This is the first time I have read anything that gave me such an insight to his personality and thought processes. HONESTLY, the best book I have ever read.

This is absolutely the best book on any scientific topic intended for the general reader that I have ever read. It is one of very few books about science I have ever read that I could seriously call a "page turner". Einstein's theories are presented in such a manner that anyone reading the book can understand the concepts without trying. I have read other books that discussed Einstein's theories, but none of them presented the ideas with such lucidity and simplicity, while at the same time not losing the depth and profundity of the concepts.

if you have high blood pressure get this book its a 10 ! knowledge is good for your health ! stay healthy ! go to saunna sweat you toxins!! and and excercise keep away from foods that have too much sodium like chinese food , can soups , processed foods ! eat natural and excercise and live to 100 !!!

This book offers a wide variety of treatment options (dietary/ behavioral modification, use of various supplements) in the treatment of hypertension, as well as a comprehensive review of the prescription medications available for this condition. I found the dietary suggestions quite helpful, and this is one of the few books I have read which offers sound advice on use of dietary supplements as well as their presumed mechanism of action.

I've used the Vaso-Guard therapy and it is working for me. The book is very comprehensive and I appreciate the holistic approach outlined.

I actually starting using the Dash diet and some of the supplements, not all. In a few days my blood pressure started to go down dramatically. It's amazing how much salt there is in everything. You really have to read labels and of course a lot more fruits and veggies!

All in all, very good reading. Nothing new here, just ties together all facets of controlling your high blood pressure: vitamins, supplements, exercise, diet and stress reduction. Presents a variety of programs and explains in detail how each can potentially lower and control hypertension. A good "how to" book to keep handy and refer to often. I have started the program and after only 3 weeks, my blood pressure has dropped. I plan to "wean" myself off the high blood pressure medication I am on now and go "totally natural".

Your Performing Edge, the new 4th edition is absolutely the best resource I've ever come across for creating success in my personal and professional life. I use it for my sports training and for my professional development in my business. I also use the Your Performing Edge Comprehensive Learning System, a 12-CD set, which is a great companion to the book, with visualization exercises, a workbook, and hundreds of tools for performing my best.
I love the Free ,Mini Ecourse that Dr. JoAnn created on her website,
www.sports-psych.com
Lots of great tools, insights and ideas for my training - a great resource that I use every day. Thanks.

If you improve your mental performance, you will improve your physical performance, This book will show you how to start with your mental outlook and go from there.

This is one of the best books I have read. It is a psychology book with a sports theme. Loved it!!!

Your Performing Edge is quite simply the best book i have ever read on the subject of improving mental performance. I am a keen amateur golfer with a 4 handicap and a great natural athelete. Like everyone, i was searching for that "miracle" to help me break through the next barrier - my mind. I have read and studied a number of other books and programs about improving mental performance. While many gave you the answers to "what" you need to do, none gave you the answers to "how" to improve. Dr. JoAnn Dalkoetters insights, lessons and tips are the most valuable resource ever produced on the subject. Combine this book with her Personal Coaching Program and you have, what i consider to be, the most powerful program available. I am now playing the golf i have always dreamed of. Your Performing Edge is a must read for anyone seriously considering improving their mental approach to atheletics, life, business or otherwise.

This Audio CD is a Companion to the the "YOUR PERFORMING EDGE book. It contains four guided visualization exercises that helped me to practice what I was learning in the book.
The exercises guided me with:

Energizing my mind and body
Building new confidence and motivation
Focusing and performing my best
Healing and recovering completely

I found this program really works for improving performance in all parts of my life - professionally and personally.
Dr. Dahlkoetter's training exercises on this CD helped me learn to focus on my goals and visualize the results I was looking for. Now that I can see a clear picture of what I want in my life, I am moving forward and making real progress in fitness, personal productivity, and peak performance.

I highly recommend this CD to anyone who wants excellence in all aspects of life.

Always good to be open to all choices.
Very detailed and helpful.

provides insightful thoughts and alternative viewpoints to attacking route causes and focus to vexing problems -- not just alcohol

Kuddos to Ms Solomon for helping break us out of this religious tyranny. A much needed resource guide
to other approaches to alcoholism and addiction. My impression is that AA is just about the best recovery
program the 12th century has to offer. It is time to get into reality based programs with some scientific
basis as opposed to this faith based psycho-christian nonsense.

Reviewed by Louise Landeta for Reader Views (2/07)

The author's main point is that there are many other programs and approaches to dealing with addictive behaviors besides Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and its twelve steps; yet the alternatives, while perhaps known within the recovery community, are not widely made known or available. She contends that AA is not as effective as most people think--her statistics are quite dismal, and some of the other programs have much more success. Mainly, Ms. Solomon wants to drive home the fact that while AA might be good for some people, and she has nothing against it, there are numerous other approaches that are effective as well. People are diverse and need diverse approaches to fit their individual needs.

Ms. Solomon shares the pitfalls of her own journey with addictive substances and her attempts to find help and support through AA to no avail, even though her own father was quite successful with the program. Her inability to recover through AA was a source of great sadness for her until she came to realize that lots of other people fail to recover through it as well. It was only through her own unrelenting search for alternatives that she found other programs and eventually something that worked for her.

The author is a good writer--her verbiage and syntax are on par, she provides data to back up her contentions, the content is well-organized and she cites her sources.

The basic theme in her thesis is that not everyone accepts the concept of a higher power and the basic assumption that they are helpless in the face of addiction. I believe this is a valid point. My only suggestion is that she seems to soft pedal this. I would be more comfortable if she would come right out with it--don't skirt around it. Be right up front with it.

I was interested in reviewing "AA Not the Only Way" because my work as a chaplain brings me into contact with various types of addicts. It will remain in my library as a useful future resource. I give it an A for all of the reasons cited above.

AA Not the Only Way is a resource for those seeking addiction counselling. Everyone has heard of AA but this type of program quite simply does not work for everyone. The author has personal experience in this situation. She tried AA and like many people when she kept relapsing she blamed herself for somehow failing the program. This pattern changed when the author found a program that suited her needs and specific issues.

Since AA does not suit everyone's needs and because most people don't realize that they have other options, the author has compiled information on alternate programs. Some programs require total abstinence and others look to teach moderation. There are also programs specifically tailored for women or specifically for men. The overlying philosophy, background, and contact information is included for each of these programs. Lists of licensed professionals, treatment centers, and other useful resources are also included.

I found this book to be very well written, it's easy to understand and it's easy to read. If you follow the advice in this book I believe you will live a long, healthy & satisfied life; and you will greatly reduced the chances of you suffering from strokes, heart attacks & disease etc. Kenneth Cooper displays a wealth of knowledge & experience which you can only benefit from and you will be doing yourself a favour if you get this book. Compared to some other books on health & fitness that I have read, this book would have to be one of the best.

I've had this book for many years and refer to it constantly. I think Kenneth Cooper has more sense than anyone else out there. If you don't have it, get it!

Although I prefer Dr. Cooper's first book, "Aerobics" this book is also well written, easy to understand, and conveys the importance of aerobic (principly in the form of jogging/running) as presented by the author.

Written 14 years after the original "Aerobics", Dr. Cooper has continued to evolve his principles about aerobic conditioning in this book

In this book Cooper also presents his thoughts on what constitutes productive and effective exercise as opposed to ineffective exercise and exercising to the point of over training.

I recommend this book to people who are new to exercise or people who are just starting out.

I bought'Aerobics' by this author in 1975 when I was 43 and slipping into the state where I was puffing to tie my shoe laces
a friend recommended the book. Without doing anything too drastic in the diet department other than to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and skip fried food.
I started off in the Poor category and commenced the running programme by walking the first week for 1 mile, having to make an effort to do so in under 20 minutes on the first day.
I followed Dr Coopers directions and was amazed to find how accurate his time estimates were and how well I felt as I reduced from 110 Kgs to 85 Kgs within 5 months.
I retired when I turned 69 and now at 73 I have a need to get my arse into gear as my weight has crept up and my cardiovascular system is in dire need of rejuvenating.
I note Dr Cooper has fine tuned his work and I am embarking on his cycling programme with confidence

Dr. cooper throughly explains how your body (mainly the heart and lungs) works. The book is about his studies on aerobic exercises and how it affects the body. He talks alot about his subjects and thier conditions and how aerobics helped rid themselves of thier problems. I would say to anyone who is serious about thier health, to buy this book. It's for those who are obese, those with heart and lung conditions and even those who have problems sleeping. This book is basically for anyone and everyone. Buy this book and it may help you live longer and healthier.

I had originally bought this book for son who was going to spend the summer working for my development team writing unit test for our database POJOs. I was so impressed way in which concepts were incrementally introduced I read the book cover to cover. It is now the only book I recommend to beginners and I introduce it as a 'must' read for all my new hires.

This is my new favorite-book-to-give-to-anyone-who-is-learning-or-using-Java.

The title is misleading in that this book is about much more than just the Agile Programming stuff. While it does a great job talking about Agile techniques and always starts by creating a unit test, the book really is about all aspects of Java (specifically Java 5) programming. Anyone who takes the time to work through the examples will become a much better Java programmer.

OO patterns, collections, type safety and more are covered and explained in the context of a rich, in-depth example. And because the author has you construct a high-quality test suite around the example, you are free to experiment with different ways to implement each new feature - thus proving to yourself the benefits of Agile design.

Just like it says in one of the quotes on the cover, this book is now required reading for the Java programmers at our company.

I'm not a beginning programmer, or even an absolute Java novice, so maybe this book isn't really aimed at me. My biggest gripe is that the code snippets continue on and on making the book very poor for anything other than cover-to-cover reading.

I've gotten about 6 chapters into this book and I love it. I've been developing Java for almost 7 years and am currently teaching myself Agile principles and this book comes as a great help.

This book is primarily for new programmers who want to learn Java as their first programming language. The book can also be helpful for programmers familiar with test driven development (TDD) but new to Java, or vice versa. I am an experienced Java developer, and I found that going through Agile Java presented me with a new and better way of approaching Java code development. This book covers Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) version 5.0, but covers only a few of the additional APIs at an introductory level. Technologies that are used pervasively in the majority of enterprise applications, such as logging, JDBC, and Swing, are presented in Agile Java. Some of the information, such as that on logging, will teach you all you need to know for most purposes. Other lessons, such as those on Swing and JDBC, will give you a basic understanding of the technology and will tell you where to go when seeking further information.

The core of Agile Java is fifteen lessons of about 30 pages each. It starts with baby steps in Java, TDD, and OO. The book finishes with a strong foundation for professional Java development. The core lessons should be read sequentially since each lesson builds upon the previous ones. Once you have completed the core lessons, you should have a solid understanding of how to build robust Java code. If you haven't completed the fifteen core lessons, you should not assume you know how to write good Java code. Each of the fifteen core lessons in Agile Java has you build bits and pieces of a student information system for a university. This single common theme helps demonstrate how you can incrementally build upon and extend existing code. Each lesson also finishes with a series of exercises. Instead of the student information system, the bulk of the exercises have you build bits and pieces of a chess application. Some of the exercises are involved and quite challenging, but they are where learning the methodology really begins.

There are three additional lessons to cover a few more Java topics. Two of the lessons present an introduction to Swing. These two lessons will provide you with enough information to begin building robust user interface applications in Java. But the bigger intent is to give you some ideas for how to build them using TDD. The third additional lesson presents an overview for a number of Java topics that most Java developers will want to know such as JARs, regular expressions, cloning, JDBC, and internationalization.

I really liked how the author integrated the three concepts of Java programming, TDD, and object-oriented design without confusing matters. The book is very clear with good illustrations. I highly recommend it. The following is the table of contents:

Lesson 1. Getting Started
Lesson 2. Java Basics
Lesson 3. Strings and Packages
Lesson 4. Class Methods and Fields
Lesson 5. Interfaces and Polymorphism
Lesson 6. Inheritance
Lesson 7. Legacy Elements
Lesson 8. Exceptions and Logging
Lesson 9. Maps and Equality
Lesson 10. Mathematics
Lesson 11. IO
Lesson 12. Reflection and Other Advanced Topics
Lesson 13. Multithreading
Lesson 14. Generics
Lesson 15. Assertions and Annotations
Additional Lesson - Swing, Part 1
Additional Lesson II. Swing, Part 2
Additional Lesson III. Java Miscellany
Appendix A: An Agile Java Glossary
Appendix B: Java Operator Precedence Rules
Appendix C: Getting Started with IDEA
Agile Java References

All The Rage covers the different formats that Aaron McGruder's comic has undergone as it transitioned from a newpaper strip to animation. In this reviewer's humble opinion, some of his very best strips are included in this volume. I own all of the Boondocks books and this is by far my favorite.

I love the strip and I'm sad that it's over.
That being said, this pieces all the "best of" non-comic moments together. I read that it was 200+ pages, and thought, "Wow! That's a lot of comics!"
Well, the current comics comprise about 1/2 of the book, 1/4 goes to interviews, and 1/4 are "controversial" strips. Ooh, controversy!
These are great. If you have seen the first or second season of the shows, you will recognize some story arcs a little too well, even down to the line. Awesome.

All the Rage: The Boondocks Past and Present is more than just the latest collection of the politically charged, African-American culture-centric newspaper comic strip - it also gathers a massive assortment of interviews with comic creator, writer and cartoonist Aaron McGruder, and even prints some of the most controversial strips for the first time. Young, unsmiling radical leftist Huey gives his cynical take on everything from McDonald's ridiculous attempts to emulate hiphop culture to high-level political hypocrisy, while his gangsta-wannabe little brother Riley represents the aspect of modern rap culture that is blindly obsessed criminality: "Man, I'd never steal music off the internet... it's easier to just steal it from the store." No cow is too sacred in All the Rage; there are jabs galore for the more questionable aspects of black and white culture alike. The interviews reveal a passionate side to McGruder, embedded in his desire to do more than make his readers laugh; he also wants to make them think, and in that All the Rage is a resounding success. Highly recommended.

For any fan of Aaron McGruder or his 'Boondocks' series, this book should be at the top of your list. I've bought two copies for my daughters and need to buy one to keep for myself.
Not only are the drawings great, but McGruder's comments are invaluable in painting a good picture of the current political climate, especially the ways in which Freedom of
Speech rights are being violated and squelched. Please read this book (and his others) and save it to pass along to your descendants.

This is the final installment of McGruder's Boondocks comic strip. It's a bit weaker than the other two large volumes, but still very strong. There were some strips from the first collections scattered throughout, and not necessarily in order. That threw me off here and there. There's a large section of articles and interviews which are quite interesting. And finally there is an anticlimatic "controversy" section. We've seen these before and McGruder adds nothing new. Still, even though this is a weaker collection than we've seen before, it's still worth reading.

I found this book while browsing the programming section of Borders (the programming section of my local Borders is amazing!), and I've found it to be a real gem.

The book covers so much more than just Apache security. It covers installation and configuration, and explains a little of how Apache works along the way. There are also chapters or sections on:

- Understanding and securing PHP
- An explanation of SSL
- DOS attacks
- Traffic shaping in Apache
- Logging is covered extensively
- There's a chapter on web security in general, where all the common attacks are explained
- Using Apache as a proxy or a reverse proxy

I especially enjoyed the Web Security Assessment chapter where the author explained how to systematically analyze and probe web applications/servers, with many real world examples.

There is a large section discussing mod_security, which is an amazing Apache module. Mod_security is an intrusion detection and prevention engine for web applications (a web application firewall). The book is written by the author of mod_security (Ivan Ristic), so he really knows what he's talking about in this area. Also covered is mod_dosevasive, which, obviously helps prevent against denial of service attacks.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to any Apache administrator, user, or web programmer. Its one of my favorite books on my bookshelf.

Thanks a lot, we are very happy to have this book in our library!

This book is worth every single dollar. The examples are very clear and also provide invaluable information about security.

A must have for everybody using Apacge.

I recently received copies of Apache Security (AS) by Ivan Ristic and Preventing Web Attacks with Apache (PWAWA) by Ryan Barnett. I read AS first, then PWAWA. Both are excellent books, but I expect potential readers want to know which is best for them. The following is a radical simplification, and I could honestly recommend readers buy either (or both) books. If you are more concerned with a methodical, comprehensive approach to securing Apache, choose AS. If you want more information on offensive aspects of Web security, choose PWAWA.

Before I go further, I must mention that Ivan Ristic cites me and my books twice, on pages 2 and 229. While humbling, I tried not to let this fact influence my review.

AS is an extremely well-thought-out book. My favorite aspect of AS is the decision to start with a blank httpd.conf file, rather than accepting the file packaged with Apache and making edits as needed. By building up httpd.conf from scratch, the author shows exactly what components are needed in a very clear manner. This was not the approach used by PWAWA. I would like to see other technical books adopt this teaching method.

AS includes better coverage of several topics which I believe are core to securing Apache. I liked AS' discussion of chroot environments and jails, although the author should distinguish between chroot on Linux or BSD and jail on BSD alone. AS features a whole chapter on proper PHP deployment (Ch 3), and a whole chapter on SSL/TLS (Ch 4). AS devotes another chapter to explaining how to host multiple Web sites on one host (Ch 6), which is critical to many Apache environments. AS' chapter on Web infrastructure (CH 9) also covers topics not found in PWAWA.

AS is also less explicitly Linux-centric than PWAWA. As a primary FreeBSD user, I found AS' approach more applicable to my environment. PWAWA seemed to assume everyone was running Red Hat Linux. It's fine to use a single OS for all examples, but I had to personally identify tools and techniques that would probably only work on Red Hat.

I had very little trouble with any of the text in AS. My main concerns involve Ch 1, where the author spends time on certain security concepts. I would consider the following with regards to threat modeling on p. 5: (asset) what might be compromised; (motivation) why compromise; (vulnerabilities) where compromised; (attack) how compromised; (threat) who compromised you; (risk) threat X vulnerability X asset value. On pp 9-10 the author should also have used the risk equation just mentioned.

Overall, I really liked AS. The book really is about Apache security, so if you are more interested in attacking Apache you might prefer PWAWA. If you want to learn about Web application hacking in general, your best bets are probably Hacking Exposed: Web Applications, 2nd Ed, and Professional Pen Testing for Web Applications. I will read and review those two books shortly.

Excellent book. The chapters on PHP and logging are especially useful.

Great Book. It's a wonderful comparison of the manga and the Anime as well as a great reference for how each character is developed. Also makes a great picture book for my 2 year old. She sits with daddy and looks at the picturers.

This book has lots of interesting info on all the characters and enemies throughout the first part of this great anime/manga series Inuyasha. It has many full colored pages and director, voice actor,etc, commentary. It also features sketches of important characters and enemies in the series from Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku to Kaede, Seshomaru, Jaken, Yura, Mistress Centipede, and many others. I found the sketches useful for learning how to draw. Anyways, this is definetly a must have for all Inuyasha fans.

First of all, let me say my daughter is a complete InuYahsa addict. :) She loves the serial tale. That said, this book is marvelous! It has drawing examples, story snippets, voice character interviews.... very informative.

Beautifully colored drawings and detailed black and white work.

My only complaint refers to the hardbound version..... The spine of the book broke down the back very quickly and had to be taped. Otherwise the book is very well constructed.

Be aware the book is made to read from back to front in the typical Japanese manga manner. A little difficult for me, but my 9 year old daughter grasped the concept immediately....

Well worth the money for reference value alone.

Other reviewers have given accurate particulars about this volume, and I agree with their high ratings. This book is really a delight and a perfect way to spend a couple hours in Inuyasha bliss. I was incredibly impressed with the color panels from the manga, taken from Shonen Sunday Jump. The beautiful printing job brings out the quality of Takahashi's art, and I find myself going back and studying these pages again and again. There is also a nice section at the beginning (short but sweet) about the difference between manga and animation when it comes to storytelling techniques. As it's been said elsewhere in these reviews, if you're a fan of Inuyasha, this is a must-have. Keep in mind this isn't a voluminous book with tons of text ... you can read the whole thing in just two or three hours. But the art in it, and its A-plus presentation here, offers many more hours of enjoyment and you may, like me, find yourself returning to this book repeatedly and feeling like you've picked it up for the very first time. The art in it is that good.

I am actually over 13 years old , however I didnt want to give my email address out so I said I was younger. This is a great book. I bought it for my 16 year old son and he absolutely LOVES it. He is into drawing japanese animation and this book was a great inspiration. All of his friends who are mostly the same age want to get the book to. I did see it at Borders also , for the same price , and you dont have to pay shipping and handling charges, also you dont have to wait for it to show up. Borders also had a huge selection of other Inuyasha books and other Japanese animation characters.

Great recaps of the first season with brilliant photography, the best lines from each episode, and some fun behind the scenes info. I'm enough of a BONES junkie that I would buy one for each season!

ok, so I admit it, I am a diehard devoted fan to the Fox TV show Bones. This is an amazing guide/companion/keepsake book to the show. The quality is amazing, glossy full color pages all the way though and detailed glimpses into each episode and a breakdown of each season (season 1 and 2 so far). There's interviews and antidotes galore on the actors, creative behind the scenes of the making of the show. You can't go wrong by investing in the purchase of this book. It's inexpensive and high quality. I almost forgot to mention all those amazing photos of David Boreanaz also.

I bought this book, at first, just to read. But now I use it all the time when I'm watching Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD. It is very informative! A must-have for any Bones lover!

Can't wait for Season 3 to be released. Great going Amazcon. Service as always fantastic.

For anyone who is a fan of the TV shows Bones, this book is a must. There are lots of little anecdotes about the actors as well as information on each of the season one and season two episodes.