Target Books

This book contained so much background information on places that it did not really help me much as a DM. It is great for a history lesson, but would have been more interesting if written as two seperate novels. It mainly gives background info on New Orleans and surrounding areas, as well as a port in good old Russia. Also don't let the picture above fool you. This is not the picture that I had on the book I received. It was a pitcure of a Vooduan buying body organs. The only helpful thing in the book for me was information on Talisleggin and organleggin. This is the aquisition and sell of talismen materials as well as, organs and body parts.

Well, I must say that this book is mixed blessing. On the one hand there are excellent piece about New Orleans, description of smuggling routes, underwater cities and rules section (very helpful). On the other hand there is section about Vladivostok, which I, as Russian, found disappointing.

Concise, with an insight to New Orleans. This book links Seattle with the world, providing trade routes and creative ideas to run players into all kinds of trouble. As a GM, I love it!

This book has a wealth of material smuggling routes, and long overdue info on border crossings. It also incorporates a much overlooked element in the shadowrun setting: regional maps. The mainland of North America is blocked out with not only international borders, but also the major cities are well marked. The New Orleans info is detailed enough to stage well thought-out runs there. Vladistock is detailed smoothly as well. This book makes an excellent companion to "The Underworld Sourcebook."

For the study of al-Qaeda (AQ), Osama bin Laden, Islamic terrorism or related fields, this book is an excellent starting point.

It covers tactics, targets, goals, organization, media releases, and the philosophy of AQ and provides a timeline of their media releases and attacks from 1992 through 2002. The book appears to be composed, in large part, of extracts from a more comprehensive data base with accompanying analysis. The tactics section covers both tactics that have been used by AQ, and tactics that they have expressed a desire or interest in using. Likewise, the targeting section reviews both past and discussed targets of AQ. The analysis of statements is excellent, providing considerable insight into the AQ mindset, perceptions, and philosophy. Citations are generally good, but could be improved with more detail on dates of interviews and publication.

Overall, it is very good, but could be better. It lacks visual presentation of some of the most valuable material. A simple plot of the relationship between press releases and actions would make the book much more valuable. Much of the discussion of tactics is repetitive, but could have benefited from cross-referencing. And the lack of an index is a glaring omission.

Despite these shortcomings, this is an essential reference for serious research and professionals. This book is not for the New York Times best-seller list readers, but for military, security, intelligence, and policy professionals. In that context, it condenses a diverse range of material into a handy package that will make research go much faster.

as far as an analytical guide i find it hard to believe the preface that they are a "thinktank" type of group providing analysis on AQ, every tactic I've read was a mediocre breakdown, i expected something with a bit more product instead of cut and paste of the same excerpts from what seemed to be the same interviews or manuals. If they had the comlete text initially in the book as opposed to snippits prior to the tactics it would have made a better book, i wouldn't buy this book unless you want to read quotes of extremist speeches.

Both Ben and Aimee have provided what I call a "landmark", baseline study that is destined, if not already, to become the counterterrorism benchmark on al-Qaeda for all levels of law enforcement (federal, state, and local) and DoD. The book is easy to follow, well structured, sequential, logical, and useful. This work provides anyone with the ability to grasp the "mechanics" of al-Qaeda sponsored terrorism with a central reference.......bringing alive al-Qaeda for the reader. Their in-depth study, through meticulous research, translations from excerpts, and summarizations in an analytical fashion gives the reader a sense of what it all means. These are the golden nuggets of the book.

What Ben and Aimee have done for the United States and other countries in The al-Qaeda Threat: An Analytical Guide to al-Qaeda's Tactics & Targets, should be taken seriously. The only detailed, critical, analytical account done on al-Qaeda to date that every Law Enforcement Agency, Senator and Congressional representative, DoD component, and academic institution should have. For anyone seriously devoted to understanding al-Qaeda, this is a must-have reference.

David Jimenez, MSgt, USAF, Ret, CCA; President, Texas Association of Crime & Intelligence Analysts; Instructor, University of Texas at El Paso; Adjunct Faculty, American Military University

The Dalek Masterplan was a massive 12 part Doctor Who epic that was mostly destroyed by the BBC. Only two episodes survive. It deserves better than this. Not that it is badly written, it is just not particulary well written either. It's like reading about the events surrounding The Dalek's plan to use the Time Destructor to conquer the galaxy as reported by the New York Times. Dry and lifeless. So much more could have been done. See the novels The Power of the Daleks or The Mythmakers as examples. Still, it is the only way to experience the story and the Doctor Who fan(and that is the only one who would ever read it) can bring his or her imagination and knowledge of the show along to spice things up.

This is a follow up to Doctor Who The Daleks' Masterplan I Mission to the Unknown. It is notable for the return of The Meddling Monk, an annoying charcter from the Docter's own race,who adds comic relief to what is a dark story. Between the two novels two of the Doctor's companions die to help defeat the Daleks. However, the first few chapters of this novel are rather light because the episode they are based on was broadcast on Christmas night 1965. The Docter even starts pie fight on a movie set, and somehow escapes unscathed.

This is the adaptation of the final six episodes of Doctor Who's season three magnus opus, 'The Daleks' Master Plan'. It picks up where the previous novel. 'Mission to the Unknown', finished.

What is unfortunate about this is that it starts with the episode 'The Feast of Steven'. When this story was shown, its seventh episode was broadcast on Christmas Day. Feeling that the story was a bit grim for Christmas viewing, a strange episode featuring a visit to a Hollywood studio and an English police station was produced. Even accepting the logic of going this in the first place, it does seem very out of place in the novel.

The story is properly resumed, as the Doctor, Steven and Sara are soon not only faced by the Daleks and their allies, but also by the Monk, another Time Lord with whom the Doctor and Steven had had a previous conflict.

The full details of the Daleks' plan come to light, leading to conflict within the alliance. The climax of the story is truly apocalyptic.

As with the previous part of the story, John Peel imbues his adaptation with references to the Doctor Who universe.

The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Jamie and Zoe face the Ice Warriors in this one.

Terrance Dicks adapts this 1966 serial, which no longer exists on tape.

The TARDIS arrives back on Earth in 1966 (as it turns out, the very day Ben and Polly commenced their travels with the Doctor), and the crew encounter some mysterious happenings at London's Gatwick Airport. Some travellers with Chameleon Tours have travelled overseas but have not come back. Families are reassured by postcards describing events of their holidays. But these postcards are fakes...

After Polly mysteriously vanishes, someone who looks like her turns up working at the Chameleon Tours desk. But she says she isn't Polly...

This story of alien abduction and substitution has something of an X-Files feel, except that the authorities aren't an active participant in the aliens' plans. It is sadly the last story for Ben and Polly, who are essentially written out part way through the book and return at the end to make their farewells.

Like many of Terrance Dicks' adaptations, it is readable but lacks any particular inspiration in its writing.

This the adaptation of another Doctor Who serial for which I have fond memories of watching on TV. I also enjoyed it as a book, and even Terrance Dicks seems to have been inspired to put a little more effort in than is common for him at this time in his writing of Doctor Who novels.

Arriving on Earth in the Twenty-first Century, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are soon caught up in a crisis involving the Earth's only method of distance travel - Travelmat (or T-mat) is having problems at its relay point on the Moon, and the Earth authorities are obliged to send a rocket to the Moon to investigate. Given the lack of suitable people with requisite experience, the TARDIS crew volunteer.

But the lunar base has been taken over by an old foe, the Ice Warriors...

Depicting an Earth which has become unduly reliant on a single form of technology, this story depicts those who can think outside the normal boundaries as the only truly successful people. It is in this climate of mental stagnation that the Doctor is shown at his best.

As well as this societal commentary, the story features a number of claustrophobic settings which add to the tension of the story, and the lumbering menace of the Ice Warriors is again palpable.

This story survives in its original from and has been released on video. The novel succeeds over the original in that the TV serial tends to be quite slow moving at times, but the video wins out in the portrayal of the Ice Warriors. Enjoy either or both for their strengths!

I liked the story for this one, especially the premise about the luxury ship and its purpose. However, the introduction of Turlough is weak, he just appears, no back story, no fleshing him out. His relationship to the Black Guardian is also thrust upon the reader in an abrupt fashion, again with no reason or back story. That said, the story itself is entertaining. Lethbridge-Stewart has a large part in this one and Nyssa and Tegan serve as the Doctor's companions. An OK read, but not one of the better novelizations.

This is one of those rare times in the Target/TV stories where new twists have been added to refresh Who. It does keep it diffrent, and renews a freshness. For the first time, a companion is actually against the Doctor, and meddles in things that makes life harder for the Doctor. Also, a new villian (Mawdryn) has an unusual goal, he wants to die, but can't without the Doctor's help. The appearance from the Brig and time travel problems also help to round this out as a pretty good story with a lot of stuff going on. A good read, particularly if you are finding the Target novels a little stale.

The TARDIS emits an alarm regarding a warp ellipse cut out and Nyssa questions whether they could be on a collision course with a ship in a warp ellipse. With odds of several billions to one against, we all know that there is a ship on a collision course.

And so begins one of the more noteworthy Doctor Who stories of the show's twentieth season: a story that introduces a new companion (Turlough), brings back the Brigadier, relies on time travel and has several surprises in store.

And several problems, too. The original story was written to return one of the Doctor's first companions, Ian Chesterton, in a one-off reappearance, but when William Russell was unavailable they just slotted the Brigadier in instead without substantially rewriting the story. And so the story fits poorly with previously established Doctor Who chronology, and we have the unlikely situation of the Brigadier teaching maths at a boys' school.

So, the story's saving grace is that it is a good story. Had it been less well written, it would have fallen flat on its face.

This book is also the first part of a trilogy of stories, followed on from by 'Terminus' and 'Enlightenment'.

I am a marketing consultant and I am always looking for new information, thoughts, theories, case studies. This book was extremely dissapointing. The Compilations are like puttting together college kids essays regarding different subjects about the Hispanic population. No new information, no new thoughts it is a re-hash of everything ever written about this market. Do not waste your money, I suggest to buy instead, a book by Felipe and Betty Ann Korzenny. Less pages, more useful information and to the point.
I can tell you I usually get at least a little nugget out of each book, but not out of this one. Pay the shipping and a dollar for a Coke and it is yours.

I am fortunate enough to have read through the pages of this great compendium of information on the Latino market written by a vast variety of professionals living and breathing this subject on a daily basis.

Each chapter's author brings to the table their experiences, beliefs, and ample knowledge of their area of expertise, not holding back whatsoever.

I am very impressed by the conceptualization of this book, how the editor brought together such an interesting group of people and orchestrated their collaboration with such a seamless flow.

A definite must read for anyone seriously committed to, as I say, "grabbing a piece of the torta".

Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations is a thoughtful and insightful reference tool for anyone contemplating a targeted marketing campaign, or anyone working in a field where results depends on effective communication with people of Hispanic or Latino origin (the terms are used interchangeably throughout the book), and especially people for whom Spanish is their dominant language. The book is a compilation of chapters written by 19 professionals, across the United States representing a broad range of experiences and perspectives. The authors include two university professors, five researchers, several business owners (whose services target marketers, communicators and Hispanics) and five communicators.

The book quickly dispels any notion that all people of Hispanic origin are "the same" or that communicating with the Hispanic market is just a matter of "speaking Spanish." The Hispanic market is segmented, primary by country of origin and the distinct culture and Spanish dialect of each country. Further, the book makes a strong case for the value of investing in careful research, planning and translation services as an essential part of any organization's communication planning and brand awareness efforts. Integrated throughout the book are brief examples that illustrate key points, along with a variety of charts and graphs of data and trends in the Hispanic market. By the end of the book the reader understands that effectively reaching the Hispanic market is both a science and an art and there is still much more to learn about this dynamic and growing market.

The book is organized around 15 different topics that you get a sense are just skimming the surface of the complexities and opportunities for understanding and effectively reaching people of Hispanic origin in the United States. Some of the many topics covered include: the culture of the Latino market, the difference between acculturation and assimilation, trends in specific market segments including baby products, the wireless market, the car market, the banking market and the urban youth market and the tools of effective marketing including qualitative and quantitative research, effective translations, the Latino print and broadcast media, the entertainment factor and specific communication strategies. Integrated throughout the book are helpful (and funny) lessons about challenges and opportunities of working in Spanish and English. For example, when a well known airline wanted to advertise it's new leather first class seats in the Mexican market it translated its campaign literally. "Fly in leather" or "vuela en cuero" is "Fly naked" in Spanish.

Other valuable elements of the book include a detailed table of contents and index, a brief introduction to each chapter and a summary at the end of each chapter emphasizing key points. Another feature of the book is its companion website http://www.HispanicMPR.com. The website is a unique forum for the exchange of information and ideas on Hispanic marketing and public relations. The site is updated regularly and resources include books, media, events, people, press, entertainment and podcasts from movers and shakers in the communications industry. Together, the contributing authors to Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations have decades of experience on the front lines of the country's communication industry. Their wisdom and experiences are a valuable resource for anyone entering or working in the Hispanic marketing and public relations industry.

I've read many spurious versions of Annie Oakley's life. Now I don't have to read another, because I've seen the real story as documented by Riley. Her scholarship is outstanding, and she analyses Oakley's role as symbol of the showbiz Western myth as well as her quiet, hardworking life behind the scenes. If you like the dramatic lies, this book is not for you. If you want a portrait of Oakley as a woman and a symbol, read this.

The facts in this book seem complete and accurate. We learn that Annie Oakley did not deliberately lose a shooting match to Frank Butler as she did in "Annie Get Your Gun," a product of the unfeminist fifties.

The information on the trials of Oakley's early life was especially interesting. I felt the book bogged down when the author began trying to fit Oakley into a feminist straitjacket, relating everything she did and didn't do to its connection with women's rights. I also grew tired of hearing how sweet, feminine, and ladylike Oakley was.

This was one of the sources that I used for my college term paper. Glenda Riley is concise and simple in her explanations; she does not "wander" in explaining and includes an extensive index which makes this an invaluable scholastic reference. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to quickly sort out the fact from the ficition of Annie Oakley.

YES, this excellent book is a basic primer for new students and non-savvy marketing VP's. And maybe that's where some folks should get back to? Back to the basics of reporting to their COO and CEO and CFO the ABC's of Marketing, Publicity and Advertising. WHAT'S THE ROI OF YOUR PLAN?

A= Is it Authorized?

B= Was it Budgeted?

C= Will it be Cost effective?

For too long, too many Marketing, Publicity and Advertising folks have gone to their bosses and submitted proposals as high as 50 million dollars and gotten it. Six months later, the product was pulled from the shelves and the funds had been wasted.

This book is a basic, hard school of knocks which helps a creative person establish and lay out what and how and who will be responsible for budgeting and producing results. There are no shortage of great ideas, great campaigns, great new jingles and slogans coming from top agencies, worldwide - for a hefty multi-million dollar cost.

Having worked for the largest ad and marketing company in the world (which owns almost 100 companies) there are at least a half dozen colleagues whom could care less if the CAMPAIGN produced any sales results. This book puts an end to irresponsible behavior.

You can't have your income of 400k per year anymore if you can't prove the ROI or prove sales were lifted or the P & L benefited! Just because you have a great marketing idea - doesn't mean you get your requested project budget!

YES, my own family's company that we have helped created enduring slogans that MADE MONEY FOR PEOPLE like, "When it rains it pours," for Morton Salt - "Reach out and touch someone," for Bell Telephone (my Uncle Tony Galli) and others like, "A diamond is forever." These ideas and jingles or slogans with campaigns made and make money still for clients - even after 100 years they are still being used today.

What I found in Tim Berry's and Doug Wilson's book and software program is that they are holding people accountable for their proposals. And that is a back to the basics, school desk approach that most CEO's, COO's and CFO's find refreshing. Forecasting is key but so is Actual Results for Sales.

To this day, I can't erase from my mind a senior VP at a major ad agency telling me, "the 20 million dollar campaign we handled was for delivery of an excellent campaign - we have no responsibility or interest in the financial results for the client."

In this case, the client was a Fortune 100 client...

Have you ever heard of a SWOT analysis? If you have, then this book is not for you. This book is very good for an entry level book. The authors have very little successful experience in business plan writing and the tasks they include are elementary. You would be much better off reading and intro to marketing textbook instead. The textbook would cover fundamentals of marketing. I respect the authors background, but most people would be better off with a different book.

This is a great way to get your arms around doing the some times challenging task of writing a marketing plan. It takes you through the process step-by-step and it is filled with great resources, especially the current web sites it suggests. A great way to get that plan accomplished with solid coaching throughout. These guys know what they are doing!

Just like the previous reviewer, I was confused when reading this book and still 1/3 into the material the references and practical application of MS Project was virtually non-existent. In fact, you're more likely to find Excel screenshots that MS Project in over 50% of the book.

Not to be unfair, the provided material is a good basic primer on project management and covers the surrounding techniques broad enough to get an overview. However, if you already own (or use) MS Project, you most likely read similar material before. (Especially if you had to dish out the hundreds of dollars yourself, you should have covered the basics before.)

Overall the tie-in with MS Project is completely misleading as this book does not teach even fundamentals on how to deal with the software. I wish I could say the background makes a few things clearer in my in-frequent use, but frankly it's way to generic for most of the time. Around page 130 was the first time I felt I found about 2 pages worth of interesting material, but that's about the only time.

So for general project management it may be a good basic book with a reasonable price tag. (The only reason I gave it more than one star!) For anything more stay clear of this title and look somewhere else.

I bought this publication because 1) the price seemed reasonable and 2) it's often good to go back over familiar material and learn some new perspectives.
And, though I succeeded on point 1, I was generally disappointed with this publication which seems to be directed at new project managers and yet fails to convince that is has been edited with such an audience in mind.
The title - suggesting that Microsoft Project might get a strong focus - left me somewhat confused. The first 90 or so pages make little reference to Microsoft project and, when they do, do so in a way that suggests the author presupposes a fair degree of familiarity of Microsoft Project. This seems at odds with the previous text which is an almost simplistic view of project management basics.
The terminology seems loose, some of the early examples fail to illuminate the topic and the cartoons that accompnay the test create a 'home published' feel that I don't believe does Microsoft Press many favours.
Those expecting to find a gentle introduction to Microsoft Project will need to perservere beyond the initial chapters. And, even then, when Project is introduced it is done in such terms - without explanation - of "task view", "dependency links", etc which, although in themselves not a problem, are introduced without explanation and apparently with an assumption the reader will understand such terms.
These problems suggest (to me at least) some real problems with identifying the audience for the book: new PMs, experienced PMs but new to MS Project, or other. I was never sure.
This is the kind of book I would recommend to those with no experience in Project Management or MS project. And, if that desribes yourself, this book is a gentle introduction to the techniques of project management. Others familiar with Project management will find the introduction of little value and the segue into the details of MS project abrupt and assuming a familiarity that won't necessarily exist.

I wrote this book and it is supposed to be a book about project management with some tips about using Microsoft Project and other programs effectively to manage projects. It is not intended to be a how-to guide for Microsoft Project from start to finish, although it includes techniques that I use all the time to manage projects. I am a PMI-certified Project Management Professional and I manage projects for clients in many industries. The motivation to write this book came from the advice I've had to provide to new (and some more experienced) project managers on many projects.

The idea is to help people relatively new to project management learn about the tasks they should perform to manage a project successfully and how to use Project and other Microsoft programs practically in those endeavors. For example, some folks break down work into way too much detail and try to track it all in Project. This book explains how to figure out how far to break work down and where to store all the details that don't go into a PRoject schedule.

The book also includes tips for using Word, Excel, Access, and other programs in project management tasks. The book was published by Microsoft Press, hence the reference to Microsoft Project in the book title. I am sorry if the title is misleading--I can't do anything about that.

This CD-ROM is very cool. It is pretty rudimentary, but if you are learning or refreshing your knowledge of reading music, this is a painless and fun way to do it. It also has tabulature (?), or pictures and descriptions of where to play the notes if you don't want to learn musical notation. Also, you can set the tempo of the sections you play along with, as well as mute any combination of 4 tracks, such as metronome, guitar (example), accompaniment, and (?) rythm section. Graphics are clear and show where on the neck, what fret and what string to play. There's also a "tuner" which plays the notes needed to tune your guitar. Sound quality in general, and of the tuner is fine.

I LOVE THIS ITEM. IT'S TAUGHT ME A LOT. NOW I CAN SIT IN MY ROOM LISTENING TO RECORDINGS OF MINE.

My wife bought me a guitar for my birthday and this book, and I find it extremely frustrating. It assumes I know music notes, and I am a beginner and do not. It said on the cover it shows you how to hold the guitar, it does not. It said on the cover it shows you how to take care of your guitar it does not. The CD will not play on my computer. Mostly I have always wanted to learn guitar and all this has taught me is how to throw a book accross a room.