Tools Books


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Tools Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Tools
Creative Computer Tools for Artists: Using Software to Develop Drawings and Paintings
Published in Paperback by Watson-Guptill (2001-11-01)
Authors: Jann Lawrence Pollard and Jerry James Little
List price: $24.95
New price: $13.99
Used price: $7.80
Collectible price: $24.95

Average review score:

Tools for Artistis
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2002-03-11
This book will be a very helpful tool for anyone using the new image-editing software to improve drawings and paintings. There are a number of examples that show what today's software will allow an artist to do. It gave me new ideas to try as I experimented with software, my scanner and digital camera. This book would be great for anyone who is looking for some great ideas and new approaches to art!

Exciting new concept
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2002-02-24
As a novice artist and computer user, I found this book so important and useful. It is a one of a kind book, extremely innovative and ties together both the art world and todays technology. Not only is it timely for today but will be important for the future. Bravo!!

Creative Computer Tools for Artists: Using Software to Deve
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2002-03-15
This book was extremely helpful. It provides clear instruction and beautiful examples of how many different artists have used computer software to explore innumerable possibilities for a painting in a short period of time. Pollard and Little have presented the material in an easy to read style. It gets right to the point. An excellent tool for any artist.

Something for Every Artist
Helpful Votes: 14 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2002-03-05
This book encouraged me to buy Photoshop Elements and get started learning this powerful and complex software (I have used Microsoft's Picture It! and a watered-down version of Phtoshop before, the latter for several years). This book coveres several types of media. A number of different artists put together paintings using the software to aid in explorations of graphic ideas and planning. Basically, it is an introduction to using Photoshop (or, "...Elements") or other image editing program that demonstates the advantages, and some of the ways, a computer can be used by artists. It's chief value lies in getting you excited about expanding your tools and shows you how a computer can enhance your creativity, making it easier and quicker to explore the possibilites.

Innovative
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2002-02-16
As an artist taking a Photoshop class, i was hopelessly lost in a deluge of material. This book sorts through the material and focuses only on what is necessary for an artist. Great way to take the pain out of thumbnails and value studies!

Tools
Why Writers Are Cranky and Five Emergency Tools for Writing a Short Story
Published in Digital by Amazon (2005-08-01)
Author: Bruce Holland Rogers
List price: $0.49
New price: $0.49

Average review score:

Appreciation from one cranky author to another
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-02
As a writer myself for over ten years, I've studied writing as much as time has permitted me, and I very much enjoy reading pieces which bring me fresh and inspiring insights into the philosophies and methods of writing. While I've read many books and articles on writing, only a few, like Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury, or Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively by Rebecca McClanahan, have served to get me excited about writing by reminding me of the reasons why I write.

Bruce Holland Rogers' piece is one of those rare gems, and whether you are a veteran writer or one just starting out, I highly recommend that you read Mr. Rogers' essay. I learned much from it, and you will too.

- Gregory Bernard Banks, author of "Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death & Life", plus other books and Amazon Shorts.

Informative Read
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-16
This is a quick read that would be perfect for a little inspiration when trying to come up with some ideas for a short story from complete scratch. The first part is a valid, informative, and amusing view of the writer as a a cranky perfectionist. The second part divulges the authors personal techniques for coming up with short stories off the top of his head. The ideas are solid and I have no doubt they'd be useful in that particular situation. For novel writing or for brainstorming short stories with characters or settings lacking a plot , you'll probably want a different read. Also, the marketing tip that is given as the reason for coming up with these techniques is worth the price alone.

I'm going to try a slightly different tack...
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-08
...since most of the reviewers below me have done a stellar job of covering the precise contents of scribe Rogers' "short-short" article, I'm not going to get into that. Please scroll down to some of the colleagues below for their insights on the cleverness of Mr. Rogers' suggestions for breaking out of the temporary writing doldrums.

There was something in his this writer's bio that I actually found quite fascinating -- the connection between how psychology and writing interconnect (this is something he and his spouse are interested by).

** Is there something unique to the writer's psyche which makes them writers?

** Or -- in perhaps yet another take on this -- can *anyone* be a writer? As in, is it a skill which can be learned?

** Moreover, are Rogers' techniques for cracking out of a writer's slump actually applicable, for example, to non-writers? As in, follow these five easy steps, young woman/man and you too will be able to write yourself into a tornado?

Rhetorical questions, all, perhaps...

I was inspired by his note about how the publishing industry has always been a tough one to break into -- and any writer looking for a hard and fast rule about how to get in there -- and stick there like, um...molasses? -- is demanding something that hasn't been invented yet. Kudos for that one. Persistence, we love.

Would be keen to come and check out a writer's forum in Greece, however. Curious to know when the author actually gives those...

Revel In Being Cranky!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-09
This two-part essay is a look at the nuts and bolts of being a writer. The first part examines the nature of the writer's mind and why writers always seem to be trying to outrun failures nobody else can see. The second is a list of applied tactics to produce work on a tight deadline.

Part one, "Why Writers Are Cranky," starts from the presumption that writers, as a class of people, are dissatisfied with the whole world, themselves included, and are trying to do something right. Why else, the author suggests, would we expend so much effort trying to make up for past shortcomings? We are our own worst critics, always trying to do better than last time, always trying to leave the world a little better than we found it. Professor Rogers' insights into the source of this spur are by no means definitive, but they are strong and incisive.

Part two, "Five Emergency Tools," is a selection of tactics Professor Rogers has personally used to get short stories out under the deadline. I've only used two myself so far, but if they are representative, I can tell you two things. First, they work. Second, they only work for short stories or scenes; if you are looking to write a novel, you'll need to go with a different set of tools, or else use these to build your book scene by scene.

Combining both the insightful and the handy, this article is one that will speak to writers right where they live. Keep it close at hand, because you'll read and use it more than once. And what greater compliment can you give a writer than that his article will be read and used?

Helpful Hints Served With Chaos, Oxymorons, And Crankiness
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-02
Bruce Holland Rogers offers up a humorous, yet real world, assessment of the perils and pitfalls of writing, as well as insight into the worth of writing as a process. The first half of this Amazon Short deals with the general attitude of writers, specifically, why are they so cranky? His insight is keen and, I think, accurate. I believe the ability to re-read your previous work without the ability to improve it is the key factor in authorial crankiness, and a vexation unlikely to disappear anytime soon. The viewpoints Rogers shares on his personal likes and dislikes of the literary profession are right on the money, and are probably held by the vast majority of writers, even when they may not be conscious of them.

The second half of the article deals with five techniques to help writers of fiction begin projects that have impending deadlines. I have written nonfiction almost exclusively (and that only for small audiences in very specialized areas), but even so, some of his creative techniques (especially "a crowbar") have applications outside of fiction. Regardless of what you write, or for what audience, the five tips he presents are entertaining and thought-provoking.

For writers, would be writers, or people interested in the writing process, this is a great Amazon Short, and I recommend it.

Tools
Spiritual Power Tools for Successful Selling
Published in Paperback by Hampton Roads Publishing Company (2005-10)
Author: Lee Milteer
List price: $15.95
New price: $1.49
Used price: $1.40
Collectible price: $15.95

Average review score:

Great book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-02
Lee Milteer's book, "Spiritual Power Tools for Successful Selling" has helped me greatly in my everyday life. As a small business owner and not a "professional salesman", it has helped me to put my marketing efforts in perspective. In my opinion, my business and myself are better for having read this book.

Spiritual Power Tools for Successful Selling
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-16
"Everyone is in sales. No matter your title or profession, anyone who has succeeded at anything is an effective salesperson. You sell your knowledge. Talents, abilities, experiences, point of view, beliefs, values, and your enthusiasm daily."

Spiritual Tools for Successful Selling reminds the reader if you believe in what you do and allow yourself to be enthused about your job you will automatically be more successful. Too often money becomes the sole purpose of our work creating a cycle of stress, decreased enthusiasm about one's work, and reduced ability to perform. However, once the job becomes more about being present, helping others with their needs, and enjoying the experience, we naturally become less stressed, passionate, and creative about our work allowing success to follow naturally.

Sometimes we all need a little reminder that our chosen life work isn't just about money. Yes, money is pretty helpful to have but often we get so stressed about earning it that we never really get to enjoy the things we do have: our friends, our family, and others that we make connections with each day.

A Persuasive Approach to Selling
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-03
This book has a rather unusual, somewhat low-key approach toward sales expertise, but it is couched in such logical, practical, useful terms that it brings a different perspective to selling. Granted, it does emphasize the fact that one should like, or feel good, about whatever one sells, as though it was a joy and privilege to offer people something useful and desirable. The book offers specific guidance to this end. Lee Milteer, author of the previously well-received "Success is an Inside Job," makes a strong case for merging the spiritual aspects of one's life with a professional career. The rewards of such a merger, both personally and professionally, are worth examining. If anyone on your gift list is involved in sales or marketing, this could be a welcome offering.

Tools for Everyone
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-28
Spiritual Power Tools is an amazing book that will keep you from every feeling rejected again in the business world. Lee Milteer encourages the reader to not take what others do personally. This book goes beyond the average self help-sales book to tell the reader how important it is to acknowledge your true nature, stay in integrity, use your imagination to create your own reality. This is a rare book of insight, wisdom and uplifting tools to assist anyone in the business world blend their own personal spiritual beliefs with the reality of the business world. After reading Lee Milteer's other books I can say that she continues to share the most practical and useful information in an easy to use format. Guaranteed to make you feel more successful.

Successful Sales Tools
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-28
This book is an inspiration! The more you read, the more motivated, enthusiastic and inspired you become. The book teaches you how to approach any situation positively so you will succeed!

I truly recommend this book to everyone, even if you are not directly in sales! You won't be disappointed.

Tools
Stress-Free Performance Appraisals: Turn Your Most Painful Management Duty into a Powerful Motivational Tool
Published in Paperback by Career Press (2003-07)
Authors: Sharon Armstrong and Madelyn Appelbaum
List price: $16.99
New price: $10.29
Used price: $8.95

Average review score:

How to design a good performance review system
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-17
The book begins with a foreword titled: "It's not supposed to be this way." The authors outline the problems and issues that many people have with performance appraisals. Then they make two key points. Here's the first one.

"Rather than a painful yearly event, performance appraisals can be viewed as a discussion, a culmination of small meetings held throughout the evaluation period."

In other words, performance review grows out of supervision. The rest of the book assumes that those "discussions" are going on. They're necessary to the process, but they're not the subject of the book.

The authors also make the point that: "In one form or other, performance reviews will continue to be a fact of our work life. This book is designed to cut through the anxiety and make the process, or series of discussions, more pleasant and productive."

Even though there are some people calling for the abolition of performance reviews as we know them, that's not likely to happen on a large scale any time soon. If the place that you work has a formal performance appraisal process now, you can count on having to deal with it for years to come.

I assume that if you're considering purchasing this book you will either be looking for ways to make your company's performance review system better or you will be looking for ways to make the process of actually doing performance reviews with your subordinates less daunting. For that reason, I'll split my analysis and recommendations into two parts.

Designing the Performance Review System

If you are responsible for designing or re-designing the performance review system in your organization, this is a book you should read. The research that's referred to matches up well with research I've done and read. The authors do a good job of presenting it and drawing conclusions.

They're also thorough. There's discussion of the current state of performance reviews, supervisor-employee relationships, scorecards, compensation, and much more.

Working Managers

If you are a working manager who has to do appraisals within your organization's system you will find some helpful material here, too. There's good discussion of how appraisals go off track. The authors cover different kinds of rating errors. And, there's material on actually conducting the appraisal.

But this part of the book is not as strong as the part about designing formal appraisal systems. There's not much depth or reach to the material on face-to-face discussion of behavior and performance issues.

That's because those are peripheral issues for the authors in this book. If you want more on face to face discussion, read my book, Performance Talk: the one-on-one part of leadership, which deals specifically with that aspect of supervision.

That's a quibble, though. Stress-Free Performance Appraisals is a solid, well-researched and well-written book that can help you improve the performance review process in your company.

Packed With Knowledge!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-01
Everyone, it seems, hates performance appraisals. Some corporate cultures compel managers to "grade on the curve," which means that even good employees may have to fail. Even in less draconian corporate cultures, performance appraisals require supervisors to tell people about their shortcomings, an uncomfortable exercise for both the appraiser and the appraised. Meanwhile, lurking in the not-too-distant background is the threat of litigation instigated by an employee whose appraiser lets slip an awkward reference to race, sex, age or some other legally proscribed subject. This book tells you how to avoid the stress and anxiety of appraisals by focusing on a few basics. Authors Sharon Armstrong and Madelyn Appelbaum provide valuable counsel - albeit not terribly well organized - for people on both sides of the desk, both the supervisor and the employee. We recommend the authors' useful potpourri of advice, role playing exercises, case histories, evaluation forms and observations about appraisals to everyone who participates in a performance appraisal system and certainly to anybody who runs one.

Top Flight Advice From A Known Expert
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-10-30
Sharon Armstrong is a known expert in the field of performance appraisals and human resources training and her latest book does a fantastic job of covering a critical issue for any manager. This is a must read for any manager or would-be manager - its well-written, easily readable, and has the capacity to improve any workplace. Strong reccommend!

Great tool for HR practioners!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-03
This is a great resource for HR consultants and practioners who are creating innovative performance management systems for their organizations. It addresses the underlying issues that prevent organizations from successfully managing performance and delivering candid and constructive feedback. I highly recommend it to all of my clients.

Fresh Perspective to a Tired, Worn Topic
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-10-20
As an experienced human resources professional, I have dreamed of the day when I could create a succesful performance appraisal program. And I had concluded that there was absolutely no way to please everyone. Cheer up -- Stress-free Performance Appraisals offers a fresh perspective to this tired, worn topic.

The text is, surprisingly, useful for human resources professionals, managers, and employees. It is visually attractive and chocked full of valuable questions, extensive documentation, great examples from well-regarded organizations, and ideas to cover a variety of cultures and performance appraisal philosophies. As examples of their recommendations, the authors weave -- chapter-by-chapter -- the scenarios of three fictional employees with varying performance levels. The book is an easy read in about three hours.

Tools
Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Turning (Complete Illustrated Guide)
Published in Hardcover by Taunton (2005-02-15)
Author: Richard Raffan
List price: $39.95
New price: $23.99
Used price: $19.06

Average review score:

Great book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-13
An excellent book for beginning turners. Detailed explanations and lots of pictures.Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Woodworking (Complete Illustrated Guide)

Wow, what a book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-06
I am really impressed, what an introduction, great information!
I am interested in turning wood so I bought this book to research lathe wood working, and it seemingly covered questions that I had and so many others that I had not even thought of yet.
The illustrations give visualization to understanding of new jargon and concepts. I now feel like I have been properly introduced to a new creative expression in woodworking and am ready to pick up a gouge and try my hand at turning wood.

Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Turning
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-09
It was really great all Richard Raffan's book are so easy to do the projects as he writes and has photos of the item he is telling you about

The Best Book from a Master Turner
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-24
Richard Raffan is by far one of the most recognized Master Turners in the world. This book is most likely a compilation of all of the works he has produced and presented in such a way that Turners on every level will gain something beneficial to their own turning. It is well organized and written in such plain language that every turner will have no problem understanding. The illustraions are top notch and very helpful. I would recomend this book to turners of every level.
Dave Earl

Book of wood knowalge.
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-09
All I needed to know, Plus much more.
Easy way to learn the tips and tricks of turning.
All turners should have a copy on hand.

Tools
The Arts and Crafts Computer: Using Your Computer as an Artist's Tool
Published in Paperback by Peachpit Press (2001-09-08)
Author: Janet Ashford
List price: $34.99
New price: $4.25
Used price: $2.24

Average review score:

An Inspiring Book
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2002-05-03
I can't say enough great things about this book. It's full of interesting projects to try, and the design of the book itself is great, light and airy, despite being packed with useful information.

You'll need some software to try the projects in it, an image editor of some kind and a printer. But that's all you need for most of the projects described. Janet Ashford has really creative ideas for transforming every day objects like metal tins and boxes, using computer designs.

I can just about guarantee, if you're artistic at all and you buy this book, you'll not only enjoy it, but you'll wind up designing some really amazing things as a result!

The Book I Wanted to Write
Helpful Votes: 16 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-05
Being an arts and crafts designer from way back, I have always wanted to own this book. I couldn't find it on the shelves a couple of years ago and proposed to write such a book when I found myself inventing paper crafts for PrintMaster, a card design program produced by the Learning Company.

But Janet Ashford beat me to it. And she has the know-how it would have taken me years to acquire. This is a magnificent tome, one that inspires as well as informs the crafts addict. Her expanations are sophisticated but clear to anyone who has passed beyond the basics. Lots of the projects are very artful and have the look of "handmade" without being too cutsy or too advertisingly slick.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves crafts and has access to a computer with the big three type programs: layout, photo adjusting, and drawing. If you are new to computers, an accompanying book or class will set you up for this one.

Restoring modesty to the artist's tool enriches everyone
Helpful Votes: 30 out of 31 total.
Review Date: 2002-05-24
The potential of the computer in craft has been seriously damaged by the excitement computers have generated. A parallel can be found when the Russian novelist Tolstoy was given a dictaphone to help speed up his writing. After a few weeks he threw it out the window. His neighbor asked if it didn't work. Tolstoy's reply was "It worked fine, but I got so excited using it I couldn't write." For almost two decades a generation of designers have succumbed to the excitement and hype of the computer without significantly adding any real content or substance to their work under the digitized banner. It is time for that to change, and Janet Ashford is a winning harbinger of that change.

It doesn't help matters that most design software seems to be written by the left-brain dominant spouses of craft practitioners...well intentioned souls with no sense of the real kinesthetics of working color, form, texture.

Janet Ashford has navigated through the difficult middle course between technology and entrancement. She draws! She creates custom palettes in her application software! She doesn't hit you over the head or talk down to the reader. Perhaps her experience of designing for and with her daughter has given her the wonderful tone of teaching someone she likes, who is lacking in knowledge but not in ability. That is a prized gift in any teacher, and Ashford has it mastered.

She has maintained her enthusiasm, her innocent pleasure in sharing the joys of color and pattern, line, light and form. She is conscientious in gathering really useful resources together into a book that can pay off in serious fun the first weekend you get to use it, without resorting to false expectations. Buy the book. Use the example. You, and your craft, will be enriched without hype or over-simplification. Serious artists and craftspeople do not expect the tool to do the real work of creation for them. This book is written for the serious artists and craftspeople at any stage of their careers...from about 9 years old on up.

Good resource if you are computer literate
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-22
This is a good reference for general information about using a computer to enhance or create art. The author mainly uses Adobe products, such as Photoshop and Illustrator for editing images and graphics. Before you will be able to create these projects, you have to be familiar with your software AND have software to create some of the effect (image editor, paint and graphics program). If you are looking for a book that specifically tells you how to do these things, that will not be found here. You have to be "computer-literate" and software-literate to get the most from this book.

There is a lot of good information provided and several projects are shown using illustrations and photographs, not in a step-by-step format.

starting point for computer crafts
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2002-05-29
Ashford knows the art of computer craftmaking and provides the reader with very good starting points for crafts that intertwine computer and manual art. Regarding hardware/software she clearly favors Mac/Adobe, so her recommendations reflect this. In spite of this slant, she gives some helpful overviews of the technological side of various formats, graphic standards, etc.
Want to intermingle computer graphics with your arts and crafts? Here's a good starting point.

Tools
Basic Candle Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (Basic Books Series)
Published in Spiral-bound by Stackpole Books (2002-10)
Author: Eric Ebeling
List price: $19.95
New price: $7.75
Used price: $5.97

Average review score:

Excellent for true beginners
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-06
I started candle making several months ago. I wish I had had this book on Day 1. I pretty much figured out the basics on my own, but would have saved a lot of time (and mistakes) if I had had this book to start with. It's Candle Making 101: basic, simple, step by step, and lots of photos. A great book if you are just starting out.

Beginning Candlemaker
Helpful Votes: 13 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-07
If you have made candles before, this book isn't for you. It is however the perfect book for me. I am new to candlemaking and have read all the candle books in the library and bought several more. But when I make candles, I find myself jumping from book to book trying to get all the steps straight.

This book is an extremely detailed explanation (with pictures) of the steps to making several types of candles; container, molded, dipped, and rolled beeswax. It is like having an expert standing beside you, "This is the way you prime wicks. This is how to add color to the wax".

Includes information on equipment, a good explanation of the different kinds of wicks and then step-by-step instructions with lots of pictures and a checklist of materials needed.

Once I get the hang of candle-making, this book will probably be put back on the shelf in favor of more advanced techniques. But until then, this is the next best thing to having an expert walk you through each step.

The only book you'll ever need!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-30
What's best about this book are the step by step photos included with the instructions. That's what makes it so easy to understand even for the novice.

Offers valuable tips and advice for those who are more advanced as well. This book is a must for your collection if you're serious about candle making.

[...]

Highly Recommended
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-06
Excellent long-lasting bound Book. Excellent colored photos throughtout!
Highly Recommend for Candle Maker Beginners!
Would have to be "Advanced" Candle Maker to need any other Book!

Very Helpful
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-01
This is a great book for people who are just starting making candles or has never done it before. The pictures are big and all color and the directions are clear. It also has a list of supplies that you'll need to get started for basic candles with easy to do projects.

Tools
The Heart of Change Field Guide: Tools and Tactics for Leading Change in Your Organization
Published in Paperback by Harvard Business School Press (2005-11-09)
Author: Dan S. Cohen
List price: $24.95
New price: $5.95
Used price: $2.49

Average review score:

Cohen's Experience Makes Field Guide Useful Addition
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-19
I have been using The Heart of Change book in my consulting practice. Dan Cohen's Field Guide adds a new dimension to the useability of the model. In this book Cohen has brought his extensive experience with Deloitte Consulting's Large Scale Change Practice to bear in delivering tacit knowledge of how successful change initiatives using the Heart of Change model really happen. There are ample insights, tips and tools. In addition he very successfully integrates the the theory behind the model with key challenges, diagnostic tools, stories to remember and other helpful resources.

Making Change Real
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-08
This is a strong practical guide to organizational change. It's foundational with tools well integrated and clearly defined. Brilliant. Thanks for this practical guide.

A follow-up to the 1996 John Kotter best-sellers Leading Change
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-07
Dan S. Cohen's The Heart Of Change Field Guide: Tools And Tactics For Leading Change In Your Organization is a follow-up to the 1996 John Kotter best-sellers Leading Change, which outlined an eight-step program for organizational change which was applauded and followed by businesses around the world. Here leaders and managers receive tools and frameworks for bringing these changes to life within their own companies, teaching how to implement each step in the process and packing in checklists, commentary, tips, and practical application methods throughout. From communicating for buy-in to creating, shaping and imparting a vision for change, The Heart Of Change Field Guide takes idea and applies it to real-life situations.

Winning Principles to Practical Tools!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-27
The Heart of Change (2002), co-authored by Kotter and Cohen, hit a chord in the marketplace because it told stories that leaders could relate to (based on the eight steps of change) about project successes and failures. Cohen's Field Guide (2005) takes those winning principles and translates them into practical tools to help monitor and measure success along each step.

As a consultant, I use these principles and tools on a regular basis to help my clients achieve lasting change. The diagnostic tools for each step are a great way to identify barriers and risks so you can bust through those barriers and mitigate risks.

If your organization is undergoing significant change, this is a book that you MUST have not only in your library but on your desk for regular use.

Gives new meaning to the term "practical."
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-12
I was initially skeptical when this book was recommended by a coworker. But wow! The two most outstanding points are:
1.The change management insights to be gained from the real-life case studies. It's reassuring to know you're not alone in facing these challenges.
2. The dignostic tools are very helpful in identifying similar issues to be resolved in my company. Great not to be "insulted" by cookie-cutter solutions.
This is information and guidance that I can put to work immediately. Would recommend to any executive currently facing change management issues.

Tools
Household Winners for Working Women: Your Personal Organization Tool Kit to Declutter and Design an Comfortable Home
Published in Paperback by Dalkeith/Greystone, Inc. (2002-03-01)
Author: A. Kingsley Bishop
List price: $22.95
New price: $22.95
Used price: $10.39

Average review score:

pretty good
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-06
I did like this book because it offers a "battle plan"-you feel empowered just reading it. Some of the ideas in the book are very very practical and I would have never thought about them. However...not all the ideas are all that original, and I was doing lots of the things described anyway. Another problem is that the author, instead of showing more about organizing paperwork, refers her readers to a different book... Overall, it's a pretty nice read, but for the organizing freaks out there-don't expect an epiphany!

Making My Space
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-23
I like the author's use of humor as well as the included lists for organization. It is possible to organize one area at a time. I have read Alexandria Stoddard in the past and like how this author incorporates her ideas especially for the Decompression Chamber. I live in a one room apartment so I can develop my own Cozy Corner.
This book is more an advanced course in organization than other books I have used in the past. This previous knowledge is often assumed. The book also has another problem common to books on organization. Many of us rent and for that reason cannot add built-ins to where we live.

Solid, useful, and highly recommended ideas
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2002-09-08
Household Winners For Working Women: Your Personal Organizational Tool Kit To Declutter & Design A Comfortable Home is a highly practical and "user friendly" guide for keeping one's home free of useless encumbrances and enhancing a cozy, liveable space in which to better enjoy life. Written specifically for working women with limited time for housework, individual chapters address everything from an easy-to-access closet, to choosing groceries that offer maximum nutrition and delicious preparation with minimum fuss, to car cleaning and car jacking prevention tips, Household Winners For Working Women is packed cover to cover with solid, useful, and highly recommended ideas, suggestions, and advice.

It made my wife very happy.
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2002-05-28
I purchased this book as a gift for my wife. She is a fairly well organized person but she said that she needed to be better about certain tasks. So anyway, I gave it to her and she said it was perfect. The fact that she was able to read and zoom in on the relevant chapters to her pleased her to no end. I highly recommend this book. It is a great gift idea.

AZURE Your Way to an Organized, Comfortable Home
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2003-03-07
Written in a conversational style, Dr. Bishop guides us through a delightful process of decluttering and organizing our home environments--to Assess, Zone, Unload, Rearrange & Enjoy. Chapters address creating organized rooms and work and storage spaces throughout the home. This comprehensive manual is especially valuable for the numerous checklists for project planning and for documenting important family and household information. Also includes extensive, useful Resources, Apprendix, and Bibliography sections.

If reading from beginning-to-end is not your style, start by learning Dr. Bishop's philosophy of AZURE-ing (p.340-41) and move to Chapter 4 to create your own Personal Decompression Chamber. Then, in your personal care retreat, read the remaining chapters that will guide you in the process of organizing your other home environments, and simplifying your life to enjoy it more!

Tools
Linux System Security: The Administrator's Guide to Open Source Security Tools
Published in Textbook Binding by Prentice Hall PTR (1999-12-20)
Authors: Scott Mann and Ellen L. Mitchell
List price: $48.99
New price: $2.46
Used price: $0.20

Average review score:

Non Fiction
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-03
Linux System Security: The Administrator's Guide to Open Source Security Tools, Second Edition
by Scott Mann has advice on starting from scratch when you are setting up a machine to make it secure from attack from the outside.

It looks at everything from the filesystem upwards, and will give you a good starting point for looking at this.

I like Linux
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 27 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-21
Linux is better than Windows.

Probably the best book on open source security tools
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2000-07-20
Actually all tools described are not Linux specific and can be used for any Unix including FreeBSD and Solaris.

The authors seems to know the subject and really used tools that they are writing about. For several popular tools the book provides some useful info that is difficult to find elsewhere. Pretty decent typography, although it's a little bit too academic and does not use icons on margins that IMHO simplify reading. 

As for the classic open security tools, the book covers PAM(36 pages), Sudo(20 pages), TCP Wrappers(24 pages), SSH(55 pages), Tripwire(24 pages), CFS and TCFS (30 pages), and ipchains.

From the first reading it looks like the chapters are *not* a rehash of existing online documentation. In addition to the chapters about classic open source security tools I like chapters about logs: a chapter on syslog (Ch.8) and a chapter on log file management (Ch.17). 

Now about weaknesses. The chapter on Tiger is rather weak. Moreover regrettably Tiger is a legacy tool, but actually information is not completely useless -- it's not difficult to switch to another tool after one understands how Tiger works. Actually Perl is superior for writing Unix vulnerability scanners in comparison with shell. May be hardening scripts like Bastille would be a better choice for this chapter in the second edition of the book.

Book is incomplete in a sense that neither Snort (or any similar intrusion detection tool), nor open source network scanners (Saint, Sara, etc.) are covered.

Of course there are some typos, but generally not that many. But what is really bad is that the Prentice Hall book page currently is pretty basic with no errata or additional links. The authors do not provide a WEB site for the book.

This book can probably be used for studying Unix security at universities along with somewhat outdated Practical Unix and Internet Security and this combination can somewhat compensate deficiencies of the latter (non tool oriented descriptive approach).

By far the best book I've read on Linux security
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-31
This book is well-written, thorough, and practical rather than academic. I particularly found the chapter on securing network services to be helpful, and was able to identify some potential security problems on the systems I support as a result of information provided in that chapter.

Wow - what a killer book!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-01
This book is incredibly thorough, and up to date. For example, Red Hat Linux 7 has just come out, and does now has xinetd as a replacement for inetd. Well, you guessed it, this book has about 27 pages on xinetd!

Want info on ipchains? This book has at least 50 pages on the subject!

I could go on and on about this book it is so good!

This book is written by experienced people, not just an author who was assigned another book to write.

You will not regret buying this book!


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