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...his little sister is turned into a car, Mara gets amnesia, and ANOTHER goddess arrives! the child-like Skuld is nothing like her half-sisters Urd and Belldandy, and she and Keiichi get off to a bad start right away. She blames him for Belldandy's 'exile' to earth, and hates him for it. She and Urd don't get along much either.

Skuld is not my favorite of the goddesses, but at this stage, she is rather cute. I prefer how she looks now to her design in the later books, since she looks younger. Unfortunately, that means that her older sisters looks younger as well, and that doesn't work.

So...get this book!

Oh my goddess may not have the best artwork, or the best plot. But it has charm. And I absoulutly loved it.

College freshman Morisato Keiichi gets more than he bargained for when he goes dialing for dinner and gets an unexpected delivery - Belldandy, a real live, honest to goodness Goddess!

Belldandy grants him a wish, and Keiichi decides that what he really needs is a girlfriend just like Belldandy!

And that's exactly what he gets. The mysterious "Ultimate Force" that enforces all Wish Contracts comes into play, and Keiichi and Belldandy are now inseparable.

That's when Keiichi remembers that his dorm has a strict rule: NO WOMEN ALLOWED!

Can Keiichi and Belldandy find a new place to live? Will everyone buy the story that she's a foreign student? And does Keiichi have the guts to put the moves on a babe who is LITERALLY divine?

As said above, this series follows Keiichi and Belldandy life together. "Oh my goddess" may lack in a number of area's, but it still remains a delightful romantic/comedy. Full of charm, "Oh my goddess" remains one of my favorite manga's.

The artwork is quite good. The characters designs are all interesting and very detailed. The artwork is overall easy on the eyes. is still pretty easy on the eyes.

The characters are engaging. There is Keiichi, college student who, while trying to order takeout, summons a goddess instead. Then there is Belldandy, Keiichi's love interest and first class goddess, she is sweet and kind, and incapable of lying. Then there is the sexy Urd, who is also first class,(actually,first class limited because she will sometimes lie.) Urd has a high profile of herself, and believes she is the most powerful of her siblings. Urd is constantly trying to force Keiichi into puting the moves on Belldandy, and is sometimes quite decieving. Urd is also a talented alchemist. And finally, there is Skuld,who dislikes Keiichi and believes that he is stealing Belldandy away.

This anime is chock full of jokes. Wheither it be Urd's attitude, the evil bugs( who look more kawaii than evil), Skulds love to her devices, or that very weird program on the television, it all works amazingly well."Oh my goddess" may lack the good material that "ranma 1/2" offers, but many of the jokes are still clever.

Many of the jokes are stricky hit and miss. Fortunatly, for me, the weak jokes added to "Oh my goddess"'s charm, while the good jokes created a bundle of hilarity. And I find charm more rewarding than laughs. But as the series progresses, it takes a more serious tone, causing you to ponder Keiichi and Belldandys love for each other. You will be praying that their love holds up against all of the people who doubt them and try relentlessy to tear them apart. This feeling will hook you and force you to continue turning the pages. And this feeling stays far after the laughs are over.

"Oh my goddess" is wonderful. If you like "Tenchi muyo" or "Ranma 1/2" don't hesitate. "Oh my goddess" is a classic. It truly worth the money, as it is readable over and over again. Again, this is a wonderful manga that is both sweet and bittersweet. Pick this manga up as soon as you can. I loved it, and I'm sure you will to.

This released of the "Oh My Goddess" manga (comic book) continues to improve in art to a cuter style. We have five stories here and three of them are around the demon Mara.

First, Mara returns and teams up with Sayoko to get Keiichi to reject and leave Belldandy. Then in the second story, Mara goes after Keiichi's sister Megumi and turns her into a car but comes loses her memory when she touches a good luck arrow. Now she can't remember how to undo her spell. The third tale has Belldandy racing for the Nekomi Tech Motor Club. Aoshima is determined to end NTM forever and tries to sabotoge her vehicle.

The fourth tale is the funniest as Urd uses Valentine's Day to con Belldandy into making Keiichi a chocolate (in Japan, women give men Chocolate on Valentine's Day and the men return the favor a month later; homemade chocolate is considered a sign of love as I understand it). Mara gets wind of this and makes a special poison chocolate while Urd makes a special love chocolate to replace Belldandy's.

The final tale introduces us to the third goddess Skuld. She's youngest sister of Belldandy and Urd and has come to Earth because of the bug problem. Fans of the OAV series will recoginze this story though its ending is very different from the OAV.

Bottom line: Fans of the OAV series or the movie will want to have this in their collection. Sweet, cute, and funny, it is a manga that can be enjoyed by most people.

Yep, that is the main attraction of this volume of Oh My Goddess! Belldandy and Urd's little sister arrives! She is a little brainiac with a mecha fetish, cute as a button, and probably the most violent of the cast, including Mara! Yet she loves her big sister Belldandy and wants her to come back up to heaven to help her fight the bugs. Evil little rabbit looking creatures that screw around with everything. Good stuff! Also in this volume Keiichi has to deal with Mara yet again. Mara turns Keiichi's little sister Megumi into a car, but because Mara stepped on a good uck item she has amnesia and cannot turn Megumi back into aperson. Crazt stuff enjoy!

OMG is the best manga series ive found! it's so funny, and cute, and there is actually a little action, mixed with a little love, mixed with a little comedy. its the perfect blend of all the things ppl look for in anime and manga! action, love, comedy, great story, and of course, awesome art. everyone will like this story, guys, girls, everyone. you have belldandy and keiichi in love, belldandy the perfect girl, and keiichi always getting into some trouble (usually by no fault of his own, and with belldandy's older sister, urd, trying to get them together (more like trying to get them to go to bed together), and belldandy's younger sister, skuld, a mechanical genius, who doesnt want to "loose" her sister to a guy. it makes for funny situations and even better stories and plot. if you are a true manga or anime fan you would have OMG in your collection. and if you dont have u are seriously missing out!

I definitely recommend this book for anyone working with OpenGL's new Shading Language. I would, however, say that probably the most difficult part of working with GLSL is getting it working in the first place. Especially on Linux, this is somewhat confusing - some cards support GL 2.0, some don't, but still support the GLSL if using the ARB function calls. I would also make sure to point out to new users that GLEW is close to essential when working with the GLSL - you can download it from sourceforge. It might be worth mentioning in future versions of the book, along with ARB functions which are the same as the GLSL standard functions shown in the book.

Twenty years ago, I used to program graphics on an Evans and Sutherland PS340. It was then one of the top of the line graphics computers (costing $100k). It could labouriously do shading, but only Phong and Gouraud. Nowadays, many PCs have this ability, and much faster. But a problem still persists, where often the shading methods are restricted to what is implemented on the graphics chips.

In contrast, you have the approach in this definitive book on OpenGL Shading Language. This lets you implement in your code, shading routines of your own devising. To be sure, given the same shading method, one done in this language, and one in the hardware, then the latter will have better performance. But it turns out that today's computers are fast enough, and have enough RAM, that the difference in response might not be appreciable.

The book describes an extensive set of built-in convenience functions that come with the language. And the language's API is explained in detail. The author rightly recommends that you come at it with some experience in the standard OpenGL.

Since the language is still quite new, you are more or less on your own, when looking at development tools. This dearth is expected to be remedied in a few years. But right now, you'll have to rely on your wits. Along with a chapter that gives general principles of how you should develop your own shader. What may be even more use, however, is the second half of the book. Devoted to case studies of many shaders. Understanding these may be more beneficial than any IDE.

Oh, as you might expect from a graphics book, there is a lovely set of colour plates in the middle of the book, showing what custom shaders can do. Treat it as inspiration if you wish.

The recent trend in graphics hardware has been to replace fixed functionality with programmability in areas that have grown exceedingly complex (e.g., vertex processing and fragment processing). The OpenGL Shading Language has been designed to allow application programmers to express the processing that occurs at those programmable points of the OpenGL pipeline. Independently compilable units that are written in this language are called shaders. A program is a set of shaders that are compiled and linked together. The OpenGL Shading Language is based on ANSI C and many of the features have been retained except when they conflict with performance or ease of implementation. This shading language is without a doubt the most important addition to OpenGL since its inception, and this book provides an excellent guide to programming with it. The author was one of the primary contributors to the development of the language, and he provides a well-written and insightful explanation of the language and its use.
The book begins with a review of OpenGL basics, followed by an introduction to shaders and how they fit into the pipeline. It then covers the language itself, including data types, operators, interaction with the OpenGL state machine and fixed function pipeline, built-in functions, and more. It also introduces and explains the OpenGL APIs needed to use shaders.
The last half of the book focuses on shader development, including general process and workflow, and coverage of many specific techniques, such as procedural textures and GPU-based animation. It even includes a section on implementing the fixed function pipeline using shaders. The book ends with a handy comparison of OpenGL Shading Language with other shading languages, such as Cg, HLSL, and Renderman and a couple of appendices providing a language grammar and API reference.
I particularly liked chapters 6 through 8, which take you from a simple shading example -"brick"- through the specific steps of shader development that you would need to master regardless of the API you are using. Also the chapters on procedural textures and noise and the accompanying code examples helped clear up some matters that were murky when I read "Texturing & Modeling: A Procedural Approach" by Ebert et al. In summary, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in implementing software shading, both from the standpoint of OpenGL and from the standpoint of the design process itself. I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents for the second edition, so I do that here:
Chapter 1. REVIEW OF OPENGL BASICS
OpenGL History; OpenGL Evolution; Execution Mode; The Frame Buffer; State; Processing Pipeline; Drawing Geometry; Drawing Images; Coordinate Transforms; Texturing;

Chapter 2. BASICS
Introduction to the OpenGL Shading Language; Why Write Shaders?; OpenGL Programmable Processors; Language Overview; System Overview; Key Benefits;

Chapter 3. LANGUAGE DEFINITION
Example Shader Pair; Data Types; Initializers and Constructors; Type Conversions; Qualifiers and Interface to a Shader; Flow Control; Operations; Preprocessor; Preprocessor Expressions; Error Handling;

Chapter 4. THE OPENGL PROGRAMMABLE PIPELINE
The Vertex Processor; The Fragment Processor; Built-in Uniform Variables; Built-in Constants; Interaction with OpenGL Fixed Functionality;

Chapter 5. BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS
Angle and Trigonometry Functions; Exponential Functions; Common Functions; Geometric Functions; Matrix Functions; Vector Relational Functions; Texture Access Functions; Fragment Processing Functions; Noise Functions;

Chapter 6. SIMPLE SHADING EXAMPLE
Brick Shader Overview; Vertex Shader; Fragment Shader; Observations;

Chapter 7 OPENGL SHADING LANGUAGE API
Obtaining Version Information; Creating Shader Objects; Compiling Shader Objects; Linking and Using Shaders; Cleaning Up; Query Functions; Specifying Vertex Attributes; Specifying Uniform Variables; Samplers; Multiple Render Targets; Development Aids; Implementation-Dependent API Values; Application Code for Brick Shaders;

Chapter 8. SHADER DEVELOPMENT
General Principles; Performance Considerations; Shader Debugging; Shader Development Tools; Scene Graphs;

Chapter 9. EMULATING OPENGL FIXED FUNCTIONALITY
Transformation; Light Sources; Material Properties and Lighting; Two-Sided Lighting; No Lighting; Fog; Texture Coordinate Generation; User Clipping; Texture Application;

Chapter 10. STORED TEXTURE SHADERS
Access to Texture Maps from a Shader; Simple Texturing Example; Multitexturing Example; Cube Mapping Example; Another Environment Mapping Example; Glyph Bombing;

Chapter 11. PROCEDURAL TEXTURE SHADERS
Regular Patterns; Toy Ball; Lattice; Bump Mapping;

Chapter 12. LIGHTING
Hemisphere Lighting; Image-Based Lighting; Lighting with Spherical Harmonics; The *erLight Shader;

Chapter 13. SHADOWS
Ambient Occlusion; Shadow Maps; Deferred Shading for Volume Shadows;

Chapter 14. SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS
Refraction; Diffraction; BRDF Models; Polynomial Texture Mapping with BRDF Data;

Chapter 15. NOISE
Noise Defined; Noise Textures; Trade-offs; A Simple Noise Shader; Turbulence; Granite; Wood;

Chapter 16. ANIMATION
On/Off; Threshold; Translation; Morphing; Other Blending Effects; Vertex Noise; Particle Systems; Wobble;

Chapter 17. ANTIALIASING PROCEDURAL TEXTURES
Sources of Aliasing; Avoiding Aliasing; Increasing Resolution; Antialiased Stripe Example; Frequency Clamping;

Chapter 18. NON-PHOTOREALISTIC SHADERS
Hatching Example; Technical Illustration Example; Mandelbrot Example;

Chapter 19. SHADERS FOR IMAGING
Geometric Image Transforms; Mathematical Mappings; Lookup Table Operations; Color Space Conversions; Image Interpolation and Extrapolation; Blend Modes;

Chapter 20. REALWORLDZ
Features; RealWorldz Internals; Implementation; Atmospheric Effects; Ocean; Clouds;

Chapter 21. LANGUAGE COMPARISON
Chronology of Shading Languages; RenderMan; OpenGL Shader (ISL); HLSL; Cg;
Appendix A. Language Grammar
Appendix B. API Function Reference

I'm not a fan of the 'group of papers' style of book. But this book pulls it off nicely. The text is consistenly good throughout. And the illustrations and formulas are high quality and presented nicely.

I would have liked full color throughout, but I accept that it would have been cost prohibitive on a book of this heft. Speaking of heft, yeah, this is a doorstop of a book. I think some of the text could have been edited down and the formatting tightened up to reduce bulk.

The OpenGL Shading Language is without doubt the most important addition to OpenGL since its inception, and this book provides an excellent guide to programming with it. As one of the primary contributors to the development of the language, Rost provides a clear and well-written explanation of the language and how to use it.

The book begins with a review of OpenGL basics, followed by an introduction to shaders and how they fit into the pipeline. It then covers the language itself, including data types, operators, interaction with the OpenGL state machine and fixed function pipeline, built-in functions, and more. It also introduces and explains the OpenGL APIs needed to use shaders.

The last half of the book focuses on shader development, including general process and workflow, and coverage of many specific techniques, such as procedural textures and GPU-based animation. It even includes a section on implementing the fixed function pipeline using shaders.

The book ends with a handy comparison of GLSL with other shading languages, such as Cg and HLSL, and a couple of appendices providing a language grammar and API reference.

If you're doing shader development with OpenGL, you'll definitely want this book on your desk. My only complaint about it is that it was written before GLSL was officially promoted to the core. When that happened, a number of important things were changed that aren't reflected in the book. However, determining the differences isn't difficult, so don't let that deter you from picking this up.

Very engrossing story. Sort of reminded me of "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte". I have to say though, I was more impressed with the cover art that was on the book I read. It matched the story better. It had a photo of a southern mansion masked in darkness.

I am most impressed with the writers description of the character's journey of salvation. Very, very good detail and description, that was so "right on target"! He did a wonderful job of capturing the true meaning of salvation that he delicately thread throughout the story...but made a very strong statement. I will be reading the next story in this series!

This was an entertaining story; has some good twists as well as some expected outcomes. One must remember while reading the story that it all happens within 5 days.

Nick Barrett has returned to Charleston, something he swore he would never do. His memories of his time there aren't pleasant. His mother abandoned him when he was ten and left him to be raised by an uncle and aunt who didn't love him. Then, four days after he eloped with the love of his life, he lost part of his right leg in a car accident and was driven from the city alone.

Nick actually never planned to return, but that was before he received a note encouraging him to return and dig up the truth about his mother. The chief of police who looked into her disappearance is about to die, and Nick must hurry if he wants to learn what he knows. With an all expense paid trip and some proof that will keep him out of jail himself, Nick boards the plane.

But things aren't going to be that easy. No one wants to talk to Nick. He can tell these people are hiding something, but the truth has been buried a long time. Personally, Nick is also seeing old friend and foes, bring up long forgotten memories and hurts he might be better off forgetting. He even begins to find himself rethinking his relationship with God. Can he find the truth? Will it be worth it in the end?

Sigmund Brouwer is a master storyteller, and this book is no exception. I was grabbed from page one and couldn't put the book down. It took a little while for me to figure out who all the characters were, but they soon sorted themselves out, partially because they are so well drawn. As always, the spiritual aspect is well done and adds to the story instead of slowing it down.

I stayed up way too late several nights in a row to read just one more chapter. This Christian thriller is highly recommended.

At first sight, this book looks freaky. Then, as you start to read it, its just WEIRD! Then, you want to scream and holler and tell certain of its characters to just work with the main character.
I have lent this book out to many of my friends and we all love it. They each have said basically the same about it. It's very mysterious! Definately read it. And when you are done, read its sequel: Crown of Thorns. I like that book more.

Nick Barrett was born into a privileged Charleston, South Carolina family -- or was he? His father was a prominent Charleston war hero, or was he? His mother was a Charleston tramp, or was she?

Nick was told his mother deserted him at age ten and ran off with his trust fund. The next nine years were spent living with relatives who could barely tolerate him for reasons he couldn't understand.

Nick eloped with his childhood sweetheart. Four days later, he survived a car accident, losing his leg. Then he agreed to have his marriage annulled and never see his wife again in order to prevent a scandal that would cause her irreparable damage ... or so he thought.

After 15 years gone from Charleston, Nick is back to find out the truth about his mother. What he learns is more than he bargained for.

I have never read a mystery with more twists and turns, with more people you love to hate, with more questions answered that only lead to more questions. The characters are delightful, especially the spinster sisters who run the antique shop and provide continual clues.

Fast-paced, rich with description of not only historical Charleston, but the power structure that makes Charleston what it is. I couldn't put the book down.

Equinox Zero is another excellent entry in the Outlanders series, this time featuring a lost race of Vikings under the polar ice cap.

Lots of action and adventure in this one!

Recommended!

I know bad Outlanders novels are possible but thankfully, they're not frequent.

Equinox Zero is about as good as the series gets, fast-moving, two locales which are about as different as they can be (a tropical Pacific island to Antarctica)with several surprises along the way.

The return of the mad Zakat was a big surprise, since he was one villian I never expected to show up again. What was even more surprising was who he showed up with--not just Vikings, but a lost race of Norse warriors. They are very portrayed very dramatically and colorfully and I wanted to see more of their culture.

The heroes are in fine form, and even Philboyd (one the immigrants from the Moon colony) gets a chance to shine both as an ally of Kane's and possibly a rival for Brigid's affections.

Equinox Zero is winner on all counts.

This latest OL novel features the return of a character that has not been seen for almost five years and was presumed dead. I enjoyed this novel for a number of reasons. First and foremost is that the characters right now are in the midsts of an avalanche of emotional and phsyical changes, that are not going to be easily solved or solved in the near future, which is great. This particular novel in typical OL fashion took of like a cannon shot, on the fourth or fifth page, and didn't seem to slow down at all, until the last three or four pages when the story was wrapping itself up. With a trip to the South pole and a dino hunt that is one of the best written scenes in the entire OL series in my opinion, Equinox Zero has something for everyone. Starting off with Dino hunt that was like something out of Jurassic park only better, and ending in a climatic battle in the middle of the South Pole, this novel couldn't have been better. More of the secrets surrounding Thunder Island are revealed, as well and we learn a bit more about the Cube (the redoubt on Thunder Island.) Secondly this novel returns us to one of my favorite settings, the Artic redoubt on the South Pole which was first introduced in Hell Rising. With the discovery of an old enemy lurking in the shadows, sightings of Vikings raiding all up and down the west coast, and information that the artic ice sheet that makes up most of the south pole threatening to break away and slip into the ocean as cause a new ice age, this novel accelerates to a break neck pace that leaves the reader breathless and somehow feeling satisfied but with the nagging doubt that they missed something in all the excitement. There is bit of rehashed material in this book, but it is information that is essential to the plot, and a bit of a refresher about past novels that have an impact on this latest plot. All in all this book was a great read, which is what most of us have come to associate with Mark Ellis. This one gets a 10 out of 10 from me.

Equinox Zero is a nice filler novel, one where there really isn't anything as drastic as we had with The Dragon Kings and previous novels.

Sure the novel revolves around another world-threatening event, but it's resolved quickly and quite memorably at the end.

We need the occasional -breather- novel as we have had with this one. There is plenty of action, to be sure, but at the same time, there is even more character development, which compliments the action quite beautifully.

The novel begins with Kane and Domi hunting for a prehistoric monster on Thunder Isle, to make the violent and primordial island just a little bit safer for the Cerberus exiles, while they explore the ruins of the Operation Chronos facility.

The author gives even more depth to the outlander girl, Domi, and adds a little tension between her and Kane, as she makes it quite clear that she is interested in him, despite the relationship that has blossomed between her and Lakesh, after Grant rejected her.

Speaking of the ebony giant, he has decided to leave Cerberus, as he is tired of all the fighting and the near endless stress that he's been subjected to. He really doesn't believe that it's his fight, and he just wants to retire, to settle down with Shizuka and the Tigers of Heaven on new Edo.

Another old enemy has apparently arisen from the grave, a man we haven't seen since Iceblood. He managed to find his way to Utlima Thule, a haven of Vikings that has remained essentially untouched for thousands of years. Using his influence, he is trying to take over the isolated civilization, and to bring about another great Deluge, not quite of biblical proportions, but one that would destroy the emerging civilization, plunging the already fragile planet back into another dark age, of which it might not ever recover.

Zakat and a ship of the people from Ultima Thule raid a ship belonging to the Tigers of Heaven, all the while being witnessed by Grant and his new love. That prompts him to return to Cerberus to ask for Kane's help in tracking down the criminal and putting an end to him and his plans once and for all.

Bringing Philboyd with them, they jump to the gateway that was first discovered in Hell Rising. They find the entrance to Ultima Thule and make their way to the underground city. It is very much a lost civilization, even though the Nazi's tried to take it over nearly 250 years previously. Tried, but failed miserably, and paid for their efforts with their lives.

Here, Kane is forced to fight Zakat's lover, a Valkyrie named Sif. It is truly a memorable battle, one which Kane nearly loses his life, but as is the case, the hero triumphs, and not only defeats the woman, but spares her life. Zakat meets his end in a very appropriate manner, and the threat to the world is neatly dealt with.

Keep them coming!

I always wondered by Grigori Zakat never returned after his first appearance in Iceblood, considering the obvious effort involved in creating him.. Now the twisted Russian priest is back to bedevil the Cerberus warriors as they learn Zakat's ultimate goal is to trigger a another ice age and unite the survivors under his rule, his edicts enforced by Norse warriors from the lost land of Ultima Thule!

The set-up for Equinox Zero is terrific, featuring a Kane and Domi team-up on another "Lost World", Thunder Isle which is populated by all sorts of creatures pulled from different epochs of time. I think this element of the Outlanders saga is wonderful, offering many story springboards.

The scenes of Zakat's piracy with the Thulians are exciting. A standout sequence is a sea battle between Zakat's forces and a trading ship from New Edo, which tips off the Cerberus warriors that their old foe is back. Grant's anger directed toward Kane when he learns this is very realistic .

The exotic scenes in the timeless world of Ultima Thule are extremely well- wrought. Mark Ellis portrays the city from the days of ancient Norse mythology with colorful splendor,

There are a lot of high points in this novel: a great villain, excellent characterizations, a fast-paced plot, and incredibly exciting action sequences. Add them together and you have a superior Outlanders novel on every level. A must-read!.

The story of Paradise Kiss is very interesting. Its a great love story. It will appeal to an age group starting at around age 15+. This is the story of a young girl torn between two paths in life. The life she wants and the life she is made to feel she should live. Very enjoyable.

Pretty good manga.
I'm in my twenties and this is one of the mangas I've really enjoyed.

Its not like MARS :(
But still good!

OMG!! thats all i can say.its just sooo fabulous!!! when i first heard about it i was contridicting weather or not i should read it but then i decided ,"hey why not?" now that i read this fab manga,theres no turning back!!!this is totally a keeper! i strongly recomend!!!!

The thing about Paradise Kiss, is that it starts off in the first volume in a somewhat fantastical style, and then with each volume we get to know the characters a little bit more as they grow into adulthood and get ready to face the real world.

In Volume 4 the show is about to happen Yukari and George's relationship is now not such a sure thing. What seemed like a match in heaven is now seeming to become something that can never truely work out.

I think the thing I like most about this volume is hwo realistically it deals with the relationship of George and Yukari and the triangle of Miwako, Arashi, and Tokumori. This volume and the last volume make it pretty clear that its no longer a fantasy, but its real. Yukari is getting ready for her college exams and finding work as a model, George is still uncomprizing, and the whole Paradise Crew remains optimistic, even when its seems failure is eminant.

Oh, and another thing, guess what! We learn more about Isabella, woohoo!!!!

God Bless & *enjoy* ~Amy

If you love Mana, you'll love Isabella. If you love funky Kogaru-Lolita fashions, you'll love Miwako. If you've ever wanted to design beautiful clothes or model or just look at a really cute goth boy, you'll love the others. The art is brilliant! (& very similar to I.N.V.U.)This story is also hillarious^.^

If you love this book, I reccomend Under the Glass Moon.

Ms. Chast should be able to retire now based on the amount of money I've spent just buying copies of this wonderfully witty book. It's good, clean humor that anyone would love. In fact, one of my friends has permanently borrowed MY copy . . .

I've always loved Roz Chasts cartoons, so having the collection in one book is a real treat. Recommed this to anybody with a sense of humour!

Roz Chast is hands down my favorite cartoonist, and I grew up reading her cartoons in The New Yorker. They were among the funniest and hands-down the most accessible in the magazine. In fact, as a teen, hers were often the only ones I COULD understand! Her humorous outlook on family and life in today's world are as distinctive as her drawing style.

The only issues I have with this book are far too minor for me to subtract any stars. For one thing, there are no page numbers, so in order to find your favorite cartoon, you just have to flip through the entire book, which is colorful and fun but inconvenient. Then there's one New Yorker cover included, from 1990. However, she does not include the title of the illustration (which normally appears inside the magazine, not on the cover) and since it's from 17 years ago, finding the title will prove difficult. Not knowing the title doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the art, but it would be nice to know it!

If you're like me, The New Yorker is the only place you've been exposed to Roz Chast's work. Apparently she does cartoons for a number of publications, and many of them are included here. Therefore, I hadn't previously seen most of the cartoons in this book, which made it a fun new treat for me. I'd recommend this book to people who've never heard of Roz Chast (What better way to be introduced than this?) and to people who are already fans. most of the cartoons are hilarious. I actually bought this as a gift for my aunt, but I couldn't resist reading it myself first. I don't regret either decision for a minute. It's a great book and it'll make my aunt very happy. Make someone you know -- or yourself! -- happy today, and check this one out!

Favorites in the New Yorker, these cartoons' self-effacing, on-point humor will tickle you. The battles of the sexes, the generations and things (guilt, social angst) we maybe didn't realize till Chast shows us. A middle age travel book that's perceptive, well-drawn, unselfconscious and funny best of all.

Since her first cartoons in the New Yorker I have found Ms Chast to be absolutely in line with my own sense of the absurdities we find around us. Maybe it's generational, I find the same with Matt Groening and both the Simpsons and his other cartoons. A great book with an excellent chronological collection of some of her best.

As a former Forensic Video Analyst for a law enforcement agency, I can attest that not only is this the most thorough and easy to understand FVA "Course" book that I have ever read and gained the most from, the author is one of the top Forensic Video Analysts in the country, and even the world.
Any one who is interested in this profession, law enforcement and private, must have this book. Even if you already are an FVA professional, this book is an excellant reference source.

Photoshop CS3 for Forensic Professionals is by far the most informative course book for photoshop users. As a college student working towards a criminal justice degree with a concentration in criminal investigations, I highly recommend this book for any professional or student that needs to improve their digital imaging skills. The instructions are easy to understand and the step by step instructions on the companion CD are detailed. After reading Photoshop CS3 for Forensic Professionals and taking the CD course I can honestly say that my imaging skills have been greatly enhanced. This book is an excellent student resource and an invaluable tool for the forensic professional.

Part 1, "The Essentials", is comprised of six chapters. The first two chapters are not specific to Photoshop, and are a must read for anyone interested or involved in the use of digital images within a legal setting. The remaining four chapters provide an important foundation for analysts and investigators using Photoshop.

Part 2, "The Digital Darkroom", and Part 3, "Image Analysis and Enhancement", are detailed instructions regarding Photoshop's settings, filters, and the multitude of related processes to achieve optimum imaging results. Included with the book is a CD-ROM contianing sample images to work with when going through the tutorials, as well as some free scripts and trial plugin's.

I've been using Photoshop for several years now in my Forensic Video workflow, as well as personally for Graphic and Web design projects. This book has already proven to be the single most valuable reference for me pertaining to the use of Photoshop in either setting. It's also probably the smartest investment I've made in quite some time.

Great resource! Is there another in the offing?

This book both improved my workflow and my abilities to enhance images. The pratical exercises hit home the finer points.

I would compare this book to a "Forensic Photoshop" course costing much more, well done!

A lot of work went into this book and it shows. So many of us in this profession are so overwhelmed with casework that we don't have time to publish. I am glad that George found the time to get this out to everyone. Hopefully, this will inspire others to get their ideas in print and help to convince the publishing community that there IS a market for this material.
Great job George!
Cheers,
Jim Hoerricks
[...]

I have a number of books that attempt to explain Photoshop CS3 and Camera Raw in particular. This book is, far and away, the best I have seen. It is extremely well written, easy to follow, and very comprehensive. I recommend it without qualifications.

How do professional photographers turn RAW data into fine polished results? Photoshop CS3 RAW: Transform your RAW Images into Works of Art explains how to use the Photoshop CS2 tool, surveying the basics of optimizing RAW images and deciding when to shoot RAW, how to organize and automate their processing, how to tweak the images with professional techniques, and more. Neo-pros need this - and any computer or photography library strong in Photoshop techniques will find it popular.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is a fine introduction into CS3 RAW. It is very clear and easy to understand and follow. If you shoot in RAW and use ACR, this book should be in your library.

'Photoshop CS3 Raw: Get the Most Out of the Raw Format with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Bridge' is a great resource for all levels of digital photographers who want to work with images of the highest quality possible. A regular photo who takes images with their camera probably takes them saved in the JPEG file format that has been so widely known and loved for so many years. The problem with this format is that when JPEG is used their is always data lost in the compression used to save the images. This data usually is minimal and not a big deal but if you need the highest quality pictures without any loss or compression at all, you need to save these in a better format. One of those formats is the Adobe RAW format which is the data saved with no data loss at all. These files will be much bigger in size but they also will guarantee that whatever picture(s) you took, you will see everything that was intended to be seen (and saved).

But simply taking the picture isn't enough, as there is tons of post-processing that goes on to get images looking even better than when they were taken. If you want to learn how to edit, crop, saturate, lighten, darken, whatever your heart desires with RAW imgagery, this is a great resource to have!! With nearly 250 pages spread across 12 chapters, this is a great introduction (in full color on glossy paper) to getting the most out of your camera and taking your images from Bs to As!!

This is a great resource to digital editing, my only caveat is that I feel it could be a bit longer. Another 50 pages or so with another example per chapter could have made things even better. A small complaint (and not enough to hurt my rating for the book) but it's worth noting.

If you take RAW images and want to learn how to get more out of them, this book will get you well on your way!!

***** RECOMMENDED

The outstanding thing to note about this book is that is organized very systematically. Instead of being a breathless description of everything you can do with the software, Aaland focuses on why you would do something and how to do it. Its an effort that is fun to read and easy to reference.

Simply put, read this book and you will definitely be able to produce excellent movies.
The book can be read from start to finish or just dip in to where the specific information is. The book is written so both ways work.The clear instructions enable even a novice to be proud - even amazed at what they can do.
Two days after reading this book I put a mini movie on the internet! If I can, you can!

As an owner of the author's Pinnacle Studio 8 book, I waited to buy what I anticipated to be his Pinnacle Studio 9 Plus book. But wait no more. A supplemental chapter covering the 9 Plus features - PIP, Pan and Zoom, and Chroma Key, is avaiable at http://www.doceo.com/studio9.html under "Click here to download free chapter on new features of Studio Plus", and now I have the equivalent of the Studio Plus 9 book.
I agree with the other reviewer's comments and no point in repeating them here, except to say that for me the best parts about the author's presentations are the illustrative examples.

Pinnacle's Studio 9 is a love it or hate it package. At $99 (retail price) it is very inexpensive for what you get. The problem, people report, has been getting it to work on their system -- I also hear that the newest release of the package is much, much better. It also seems to work better with Intel Pentium CPU's than with AMD and it also likes memory, say a gigabyte.

But as for the book, this is one of the Visual Quickstart Guides. They're great. They use a format of having two columns on each page with the outside column being text and the inside being pictures. Each page is devoted to some small task and handles that task completely. You can start at the front of the book and go all the way through and you'll get a pretty good tutorial on the software. Or you can use the index to skip around and quickly get to the particular detail you are looking for.

Jan Ozer is an excellent writer. He starts out with the statement "you have the manual for the software" and then goes on from there. This is not a manual of how to, this is a what and why kind of book that explains what it is that you are trying to do and then goes on to tell you how to do it. The manual tells you how to do a J-Cut and an L-Cut. This book tells you what they are.

I've read numerous technical books on many subjects and have never sailed through the software as smoothly as with this book.
If you're looking for a tutorial that can whiz you through the subject matter with ease and accuracy this is it! No matter where you wish to refer back to, you can do it without reading the whole chapter (as with other tutorials). Quickstart is the name however I feel it should be named Quick referrence.
Best investment I've made in a while. I'm making movies that are in awe at my office. I've been told they have been made professionally.

This is probably one of the most informative books on video editing that you can buy. The author is an expert in the field and has the ability to not just tell you how to do something, but make you understand what is going on and thereby enabling an intuitive feel for using the program. His "Studio 8 for Windows" carried me from the depths of ignorance to a level of competence that allows me to knock out complicated projects in record time; this new Studio 9 version will do the same for you plus. This book will enable the beginner to successfully edit productions with minimum heartache....but READ before you start clicking madly away.

---I'm sorry to do thid to you, but the previous review was actually meant for a book of the same title. (Pose File volume 1). I do not own this particular book you are researching, but If I get a copy, I will be sure to get back to you on this.--I am not saying that this book is good or bad, just that I cannot speak for it personally...

Cobalt

This book has one unusual strength: most poses are shown from many angles, up to about two dozen in some cases. This gives extra insight into unusual foreshortening and into how the figure articulates.

The weakness of this book is that, in order to show so many different views on a page, each figure photo is relatively small. This is especially disappointing because the models are all Japanese, where most pose books show only European features and figures. This book never meant to document details of faces, though, so I really can't complain,

From moderate shadow to deep chiascuro effects this is a beautiful addition to the Pose File series. The other books excellently describe the figure, in proportion, motion and moving through space, but mostly in an even tonal scale. This volume emphasizes the extremes of that scale, making it a necessary addition to the set.

---You may be wary of the idea of buying a japanese book, where 99% of the text is in Kanjii. Rest assured that this book is as useful in the states as it is in Japan, because the main body of these books are beautiful photographs of female models taking every pose one could imagine in any studio.--Being a fellow who works in cartooning and graphic novels more than any fine art. I find this series endlessly useful as an excersise in my spare time.--Just pick a page and draw all it's figures until your arm is sore, and you will be all the better than trying to glean useful practice from old Playboy Magazines.--Pose File books are for, and will always be about fine artists who have a passion for the ultimate machine.

Cobalt

PS. THIS is the right review for the right book Sorry about any confusion

I'm trying to learn how to draw, and the books in this and similar series would be really helpful--if I could afford any of them. I found this book in a store where I live and decided to buy it until I checked the price tag that the store had stuck onto it. because I lived in Japan for a while, I'm used to the printed price that appears on all books, so I had just looked there. I have decided to wait until Christmas when I can buy it myself for a decent price. Blah.