Systems Books

I read this book over the holidays and found it riveting, realistic and powerful. They say non-fiction includes facts, fiction includes truth. By giving readers Ellie and Rachel, real portraits of unwitting vicitms of the system, the author gives her readers a real sense of how awful the family courts really are. Similarly, by giving us McGillian she does more to explain judicial arrogance, and manifestations of complete discrection (and the dangerous effects of politics and political pressure on the judicial system), than any academic explanation could.

I too am spellbound by Puppet Child. I kid you not -- this book should be must reading for every person (including the judges in our courts) who demand to look behind the closed doors of a justice system -- where the "blind" option indeed disfigures so many lives. And the victims -- so much needless anger, despair and pain. What a pity. Puppet Child's suspenseful storyline flows so easily -- I was into this book immediately. Carner really did her homework. When's the movie?

Rachel Belmore thought she had the perfect life. She was married to the very handsome and charismatic surgeon, Wes Belmore, and was living in the lap of luxury on New York City's Fifth Avenue. She loved her high powered job with a world famous fashion magazine, and as if that were not enough, all her dreams had come true with the birth of their beautiful baby daughter, Ellie. But that perfect world exploded and crumbled in just seconds, the night she discovered her husband molesting Ellie in her crib. For three years, now, Rachel's been fighting a protracted legal battle in a system that almost always seems stacked against her, bent on protecting and restoring the reputation of Wes, not saving her young daughter's life..... From the harrowing prologue to the final climactic chapter, Talia Carner's stunning and well researched, debut novel tells a tense and powerful story in excrutiating and vivid detail. Her intricate plot is eloquently written, filled with well developed, true to life, intriguing characters, and touching, often painful, riveting scenes. Ms Carner indepth knowledge and expertise in child abuse and the flawed, family court legal system adds real credibility to her story and makes this novel stand out. Puppet Child examines the uncomfortable truths about child custody and our ability, within the law, to protect children from further abuse. This is a marvelous and compelling debut that shouldn't be missed. Kudos to Ms Carner!

Talia Carner in Puppet Child has given us an exceptionally realistic insight, albeit not a very pretty one of a mother's journey into hell. We are caught up in the trials and tribulations she faces as she attempts to protect her daughter from her husband and the childs father who is a sadistic pedophile. We as witnesses to these events which are unfolding before our eyes are powerless to intervene. We find ourselves unable to comprehend the unfairness of it all. Yet, this scenario is replayed each and every day . Just spend a day in the corridors and court rooms of our family courts and view first hand these horrors.
Read Puppet Child. Mrs. Carner 's writing is graphic and yet poetic in its content and extremely insightful. Her verbal pallette is wonderful. She brings out to us in detail the childs great fear of her father and the very real reasons for this fear and how it impacts on this poor childs very being.
I will look forward to her next novel.

This novel makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens next. It is well-written, action-packed and full of suspense. The characters are brought to life in such a way that you feel like you know them. It is like a good movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a book to get immersed in. It will definitely engage you and get you to think about what could (and sometimes does) happen in our court system.

The Best series of books to learn Network programming from. The BEST in the world. Nothing comes close.

If you are reading this review you probably are looking for a comprehensive text on socket programming. Look no further. This is the One. You can stop reading reviews trying to find the perfect one and go hit the Add To Shopping Cart button with confidence. Detailed, comprehensive and clear. A favorite.

This book consists of "in the trenches" information Mr. Stevens learned over the years by reading source, testing thoroughly, documenting extensively, and assembling carefully all this data into one heck of a book on Unix programming. I feel certain in declaring that many who've developed code on Unix know instantly of Stevens' works. This update to his book appears just as thorough.

I do agree with a previous reviewer who was unhappy with the code samples' dependency on a header file in the back of the book. It's a clumsy technique, but it's difficult to imagine another way to accomplish the goals of including the header.

This book is excellent. I had previously bought "Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment" by the same author and I loved it so now that I have to do network programming in Linux I got a copy of UNP. The book is well organized and has a lot more information than I expected (Raw sockets, Packet capture, IPv6 etc). Everything is explained clearly and with a lot of examples. It's a shame that the author passed away because I would buy any other book he wrote. Buy this book, it's expensive but It's so professional that is a "must have" for anyone that's going to be programming network applications in UNIX systems.

Thank you, Richard Stevens. Rest in Peace.

The book contains everything that I want to know about the Unix Sockets API. The book is well structured, and the explanations are generally good. I would give it 4½ stars if it was possible.

I do have a few minor gripes though. The text can be a bit dull compared to other books. I bought "Programming with POSIX(R) Threads" by David R. Butenhof at the same time, and this book is much more entertaining while still factual and correct.

I dislike that all the examples in the book uses a special header defined in the Appendix. That makes it impossible to use snippets of code from the examples to make your own applications.

This is definitely in my top three all time picks. Picking up this book, I already had good knowledge of Group Policy and AD implementation but surely needed more conceptual explanations and best practices. However, this book could surely be read and understood by someone just starting to create their own Group Policy implementation. The text kept me interested and was even comical at times. It was very smooth in it's transitions from one topic to another, with many great references. Jeremy Moskowitz is a fine educator and writer. I plan on attending one of his training seminars soon!

An excellent book that teaches group plocy from the ground up, and well into the advanced levels. I especially like end of chapter summeries of tips and practices to avoid the pitfalls of Group Policy hell.

I like the author style in writing the book, it's a kinda active voice approach and this really benefit a lot for reader.

If we talking about Group Policy books for Windows 2000, I recommend this one, it's 110% pure Group Policy. One more thing the discussion of login Profile is superb.

Highly recommend this book to any IT professional involved with Group Policy or Active Directory. I knew that Group Policy was a great way to lower TCO in most organizations, but was always struggling to decode the Microsoft documentation. This book covers all aspects of Group Policy, in great detail, with great examples, and with extra muggets that I believe you will not find anywhere else.

I am a Microsoft Certified Trainer and has been working more or less day and night for three years - in labs, in theory, in real-world and in class - with Windows 2000, Active Directory and Group Policy. Earlier this year I invested in a few books concerning these subjects, and was once more thoroughly disappointed. Every one seems to be meant for beginners, and/or for the publishing business: thick, promising books with nothing in them. Said to my collegue: "Perhaps one knows so much nowadays, that you really can't find anything new in books (as opposed to Internet, real-world, lab)," and I actually decided, somewhat bitterly, not to waste any more money on "computer related" literature.

But then I read Moskowitz' "Windows 2000 Group Policy, Profiles, and IntelliMirror" (2001), and is what I hope for every time; here's a writer who's obviously passionate about the subject, who with great theoretical and practical knowledge been working hard to share his knowledge in a clear, no-nonsense fashion.
As you know, these kind of books usually have a common problem: they all tell you the same basics, throw in some pseudo-advanced details, and - most importantly - avoid the tough nuts. What's so liberating with Moskowitz' work, is that he indeed tells you the basics, just to make sure you follow him, then he goes one step further, along the way he throws in some real nuggets for technicians, and cracks them nuts one after another, like it's never been a problem at all. No-nonsense, easy read, nearly fascinating from the first page to the last. I'm very impressed. This book is extremely useful, a real treasure. If you're at Amazon searching for a book about these matters, you've certainly found what you're looking for.

I myself, will keep my eyes open for further works by Jeremy Moskowitz. Aside of being very experienced and knowledgable, he's also a skilled writer, free from that nudge-nudge-humor which some writers grasp at to make their thick nonsense "easy read"; but still he is easy read, has a laid back dry sense of humor, and writes fluidently. I don't think he's written any other books, though he's been writing for magazines, but I will keep my eyes open. This is truly great work! Perhaps the best in a long time.

This is a great book. It covers all of the design and tuning needed for a Citrix environment. It includes desktop replacement strategies...the works. It is easy to understand and organized well.
I was forced to learn Metaframe 1.8 in a hurry and this book gave me the tools to be able to implement a robust thin-client solution.

Having just gone through the process of loading Citrix XP this book made life a million times easier.(The book appears to me more orientated towards earlier versions than the one I loaded but this caused no problems at all)
I had had very little experience with Citrix beforehand but this book prepared me for the install and fine tuning of Citrix once installed...Take a bow Mr Mathers - very well written and well layed out

If you are new to TS/Metaframe, but you have a solid handle on Windows NT/2000, this will be an easy and informative read for you. While you will already have a solid grounding in file system an regsitry security, system and group policy, user groups, performance tuning, and system configuration, Thin Client Solutions is full of detailed information on how to apply your NT/Win2K savvy in these areas to the TS environment.

Mathers covers both the TS and Citrix products in detail. You'll get coverage on everything ranging from the differences between the two products, to installation, licensing, optimization, security, and application integration. And don't forget, the appendixes are also chock full of useful stuff such as a TS/Metaframe command reference, file system security configuration scripts, registry security configuration scripts, and more.

A word of caution, however. If you don't know Windows NT/2000, you'll probably be lost -- Mathers assumes that you are on a pretty solid footing with the Windows environment. If not, you'll need to bring your Windows NT/2k skills up to speed before this book will be of benefit you.

If you are thinking about configuring a Terminal Services server and/or using Citrix Metaframe, this is the best book you can buy. I have bought them all, and even if you have experience with TS, and or Citrix, this book is full of great tips and extremely useful information. Buy it! Don't wait.

WINDOWS NT/2000
Thin Client Solutions
Implementing Terminal Services and Citrix MetaFrame
AUTHOR: Todd W. Mathers
PUBLISHER: New Riders
REVIEWED BY: Barbara Rhoades

BOOK REVIEW: Windows NT/2000 reminds a reader of "War and Peace" in that it contains over 800 pages of in-depth information. The font is a fairly readable size.

Author's note, tips, warnings and many graphical examples can be found throughout the book. The Content section has 13 pages while the Index contains 44 information packed pages. With this much reference material, the reader should not lack the ability to locate the information he/she is seeking. Just in case this isn't enough, the book is divided into Parts and each Part lists what the Chapters of that Part contain.

If the reader is building a "Windows NT or 200 thin client system", Windows NT/200, Thin Client Solutions, Implementing Terminal Services and Citrix MetaFrame should provide the answers.

Having bought TrueSpace2 with no prior knowledge of CGI, and being the world's worst artist, I was skeptical reading previous reviews. However I needn't have been.

The author gently takes the reader through from first principles to advanced modelling in a clear and concise manner, and in such a way that it gives you confidence to try something new.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Great book, it also taught TrueSpace in a matter of weeks instread of learning by exprimentation.

I started using TrueSpace back when version 2 was the newest release. I figured I could play around and build some small videos for myself. This book walked me through many of the functions and allowed me to apply what I have learned. Practically from the first page, the author walks your step by step in creating your own object. Now with version 6 available, I wish this author would write an update to keep us all in the know. Even now I still refer back to this book for missing tips and function that I don't use offen enough to remember. If you like to use TrueSpace and really want to develop something not only recognizable, but high-end I suggest you start with this book.

What are Amazon playing at! nowhere is the price displayed of this ite

Even though Caligari has recently released trueSpace 4, this book covering version 2 is a must have. The easy to follow and understand print will have you creating breathtaking graphics in no time at all. Caligari's trueSpace is truly outstanding only if you learn to use it properly. This book will do that for you.

This book does a great job of teaching you how the VHDL language works, and how to use it.
It has many explained examples, and problems you can try.
I agree with others that he does jump around a bit, and you will have to look back or ahead.
It could also use a VHDL Quick Reference and a glossary.
If the index clear should where a key word was first defined, this would work too. It does have an index, but it is not a great index.
I used Xilinx ISE Webpack 9i - which is a free down load - the test and simulate the examples.

I used it for a class on ASIC. I liked this book a lot. Subject was presented in a clear and simple way.

Not only it supplies VHDL syntax but also examples to show proper usage.

Alos contains Digital ckt concepts so you do not need a separate text for that.

I was looking for a simple book to use as the main reference for my students, who are new to the concept of the hardware description languages. I found this the best book to fit my needs. It is simple and has a good organization which takes you slowly through the main concepts of the VHDL. It greatly helped me setting the outline for the course.

Totally impressed with the book. The way it is written is fantastic. It is a great reference for the beginner as covers the basic aspects of the VHDL including syntax. It has pretty good examples for references (although it is just good for beginners , but still it is better then other books as these are complete examples (Including entity and architecture and other needed stuff for the example) unlike other books which only give part of the answer.)

I can definetly suggest this book for beginner who wants to learn syntax of VHDL and how to use that in the mini vhdl code examples. It is also good for the people who knows VHDL but want some reference in case they forgot some syntax or methods.

Author communicates his thoughts in very precise and concise language (I found only one minor typo). This book focuses on writing synthesizable code; that fact alone makes it a very practical reference for any engineer working with CPLD or FPGA. If one supplements this book with VHDL reference and Xilinx Web edition of ISE, it is possible to get started quickly; at least I did. Thanks Volnei.

I am currently studying for the CWNA exam and I have no other resources. This book helps you understand the concepts in plain language. I started using it with the SQ3R method and I find that I can really retain the concepts offered in this book. The SQ3R method takes a little time but if you really want to learn it for the test combine it with how the information is laid out in this book and you'll get it. Good luck!

This is a great book on Wireless. Tons of detail on RF properties, troubleshooting and things to look for. Aside from being a decent study guide for the exam this book will serve as a handy reference in day to day work as well as research activities.

The book very well organize and easy to follow, however it needs more detail in order to pass the exam.

I read this book after reading the official CWNA Guide from Planet3 Wireless. I was amazed at how easy it was to read considering the depth and breadth of the material presented in the book. Some topics which weren't very clear from the other CWNA book were made much clearer. Even though I haven't taken the exam yet, I have not found a book on WLANs that I could recommend more highly for getting you up to speed as quickly as possible. The fact that the authors supply their email addresses is a HUGE bonus too. The end of chapter questions are especially useful for testing your understanding. In short BUY IT!!

After taking a class given by David Westcott I decided to buy his book. I am so glad I did. I went from working in the wireless field for three years and not being certified to reading his book and two months later becoming a CWNA. This book is just very easy to understand. They use alot of analogies to help you get the point of what they are trying to teach. If you have ever read a Cisco press book you will really appreciate the two David's writing style.

After I purchased this book a co-worker purchased "the other" CWNA book and the rest of my fellow co-workers compared the two and after all the scrutiny they all purchased this one.

If you have ever wanted to become a CWNA or just learn more about wireless technologies this book is definitely for you.

Easily the best book on Linux that I have ever read or bought. Also one of the best computer books overall that I have ever used. That is saying a lot given that I have many computer books on the full range of computer topics and given that I am very picky in what I buy. The other reviews - all but one 5-star - give details on the book. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to set up a Linux system or who has an interest in learning about Linux.

In regard to Linux in general, it provides a superior platform to the Microsoft platforms. Also the add-on programs that are available - all of the most useful are included in any of the best-known distributions, such as Ubuntu or Red Hat/Fedora - are as good as (in the sense of user-friendly) as the comparable Windows programs and in many cases better.

What is interesting to me is that much of the Linux development occurs outside the USA. It is a great tribute to the huge Linux-oriented developer universe that those developers have developed such outstanding tools that are free of the exorbitant, monopoly-determined prices of Microsoft products. So I hereby thank you all for your fantastic contributions to computer technology. Without your programs we would all be prey to the monopoly pricing and less-than-optimal programs produced by Microsoft. Not to say that there is anything wrong with most Microsoft products, but thank god there are better products available and better yet that most are free of licensing cost and most are changeable because the source code is available.

It's been two years since I've purchased this book, and I still reference it from time to time.

This book covers many common open-source applications used in conjunction with linux (bind,samba,sendmail,etc).

The examples are well-written. It's a great book for someone who is wanting to educate themselves to use linux.

I will note that the book seems to be red-hat/fedora biased. I use fedora, so that was a plus.

Much of what I have done piecing together information from Google is concisely done in this guide. This book got my mail server setup in no time whereas in the past I gave up in frustration (and lack of knowledge).

The mail chapter alone was worth the price but this book is full of solving common system administration tasks for people with some linux experience but not the expertise of being a sysadmin.

I really enjoy the content of the Book. Since my early days using Linux consult the linuxhomenetworking website for tips & howtos.

This is surely a must have book. It's been a while since I see some book with so much content !!!.

This certainly isn't a hand holding introduction to Linux by any means (jump in at the deep end, it works!). However if you're looking for a down to earth, practical guide to a variety of everyday tasks involved in running Linux in a server environment you'll find this book very useful. The subject matter covered is useful, and the explanations are sufficient with plenty of useful examples. Certainly a good introduction although obviously for the finer points of configuration more specialised sources will need to be consulted.

I'd been meaning to buy this book for over a year and was not disappointed. It is very well written, easy to understand and goes quite into depth regarding OS X.

I enjoyed the writing style of the author, well presented information with bits of humor to keep it interesting. I enjoyed reading the history of OS X and learning how all the parts were brought together to create the most enjoyable computing experience I have ever had. The technical information and programming examples are extremely helpful in better understanding how things work under the elegant aqua interface.

It's enormous! And every page has information useful to someone who develops on the Mac. This book is the ultimate tome of reference for the serious Mac developer. It's also a significant contender as a tome of reference for IT support for the Mac. Finally, it is the best reference for someone with a Windows background who's wondering if Mac OS might be superior technically (leaving aside user interface). (it is.)

All the gory details of how a Mac OS is put together from Mach to Cocoa are covered and then some. The author is a hard-core expert who put a lot into this book. Well worth the price!

This well written books contains everything you need to know about the internals of Max OS X. This book is enormous and really goes deep into the internal of the OS.
This reading gave me the satisfaction of understanding the inner working of Mac OS X which now make my work as a software engineer much easier because I know what is going on.
The book is well balanced in that it cover all the different aspects of the operating system without getting into unecessary details.
One small complaint is that the chapter describing the hardware architecture focus on PowerPC systems. I would of course have rather have a detail explanation of the Intel platform. Maybe in a second edition.

This is analogous to the Windows Resource Kits for OS X, only better. The many examples, most using some sort of code to make their point, combined with the depth of topics covered, makes this the one book really serious OS X coders and admins need to have.

Like it's cousin, the MS ResKit, it's dry, concise, and may scare off some folks. And like the ResKit, it's just as essential as a learning tool and reference book rolled into one.

I've seen many reviews that talk about this book as a book for programmers. I don't believe that for one second. I've heard many references to the old days when all admins were programmers and heard tell of greybeard hackers who are equally proficient at both coding and admin work. This book does a similar job of blending the lines between the two tasks, illustrating concepts and giving examples using C and scripting as well as using human readable english. As a non-coding UNIX and OS X aficionado, I look forward to broadening my knowledge of both programming and unix administration as it applies to OS X via this awe-inspiring book.

As you should expect from a book that claims to 'make strategy work' this book for me does exactly that. Make it work. It borrows principles and concepts from other major works over the recent years, like Good to Great from Jim Collins and elaborates on them in several chapters, most of them focusing on singular subjects that prevent the strategy from working: culture, leadership, behavior, structure etc.

I personally like the mix of conceptual models and basic tips and tricks, but this can also lead to a middle of the road book that the more practical-minded or the more academic might not fancy. Take your pick.

Keeping implementation in mind when creating strategy is a sound strategy. Packed with excellent case studies, Making Strategy Work is a fine guide for managers and leaders to get things done. I recommend this book along with Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, starting with the "Who" then moving on to the "What".

"Making Strategy" contains tons of topics, case studies, and specific methods to improve the implementation aspect, after planning and, how to make change and then manage the change. Each chapter has several detailed related sub-chapters.

Chapters:

1. Strategy Execution is the Key
2. Overview and Model: Making Strategy Work
3. The Path to Successful Execution: Good Strategy Comes First
4. Organizational Structure and Execution
5. Managing Integration: Effective Coordination
and Information Sharing
6. Incentives and Controls: Supporting and Reinforcing Execution
7. Managing Change
8. Managing Culture and Culture Change
9. Power, Influence, and Execution
10 Summary and Application: Making Mergers and Acquisitions Work

Hrebiniak first notes the education system where minds are molded. MBA programs focus on the formulation of strategy and functional planning: competitive strategy, marketing strategy, financial strategies, and so on. Execution gets little attention. Most managers delegate the implementation of plans to the employers under them. A key point in this book is that planning and execution are interdependent. Execution is a process, and it involves more people than just strategic planning does.

Many factors influencing who and how things get done emanate from the organizational power structure, the leadership climate, style of approach, and centralization vs. decentralization.

Some of the companies and examples listed are Johnson & Johnson, Citibank, South West Airlines, Phillip Morris, 7-up, ABB, GM, Dell, Kraft, and more. Case studies and Hrebiniak's personal experiences add relevant points and examples.

When certain companies such as Microsoft interviews applicants they are generally not concerned with academic achievements (grades) or professional accomplishments but instead focus on how the applicant, if hired, would fit in and jell with the team he/she would be joining. This is called "cultural due diligence." And Hrebiniak emphasizes that within companies culture is not homogeneous. Even moreso when M&As occur. Or, when a company has different and autonomous decentralized Strategic Business Units (SBUs) producing vastly different products in different markets (e.g. Johnson & Johnson).

This is a helpful book on how to do things more efficiently and effectively. One quote I recall from the first page of this book is, "The problem with poor performance typically is not with planning, but with doing." And this goes for about everything. The questionnaire in the back is a survey and is helpful to those who conduct it and those who respond. "Making Strategy Work" is highly recommended.

I have been somewhat confused by complicated strategy map like approaches. I love the simplified and common-sense approach to making strategy work presented by Dr. Hrebiniak. One can use it in developing strategy for execution, and improving success rate of strategies from 10%. I plan to use it in making strategies for business intelligence and innovation work!

Considering the high ranking and the established name of Warton School, I bought this book. Whether you like this book or not, depends mainly on what you are looking for.

The author says, making strategy work is more difficult, than finding a suitable strategy for the business you are in. Following my own experiences I doubt this. How many companies do we really know, that have a sound strategy that can be simply expressed and proofed right by many years of succes? Go to the shopfloor and ask your employees simple things as e.g. why your customers buy from you and what your business is or should be about. Although the author does not focus on how to build a strategy and covers the aspects of strategy implementation, a good strategy will first of all decide, whether any implementation has a chance for success.

A good strategy gives you answers on:

1.) Who are we and where are we actually (not only internal view) ?
2.) Where do we go ?
3.) Why will we be succesfull ?

Answering this questions will cope with the core question of strategic marketing as positioning and differentiation as well. Implementing any longterm strategy is mainly dedicated to leadership, preliminary people development around core competencies and step by step project management by having easy and consistant measures defined.

There are to many basic statemants in this book and definitions - just common sense. Focus on analysing your current external position and the internal view, the strategy definition and the strategy implementation will be much easier. Change has mostly to do with communication and telling the story as it is, the rest relays on your leadership and how convincing the need for change is. Eliminate the "jerks" and develop the "right" people and your strategy will move forward. The question about the "right" people is linked to change management and leadership, but non of this books will provide you the answer of this question.

Even though softfactors are important, any book about making strategy work should first of all rise a few questions what preliminary answers on important questions need to be on hand?

Best Regards,
Oliver