Practitioners Books

This book is an essential book for the intelligence operative, the fiction writer or anybody interested in the vital topic of terrorist operations. The author breaks the book down into understandable sections so that the reader can gain a comprehensive understanding of terrorism and terrorists. Afterward, you will understand weapons, cell organization, motivation, profiles and various active terrorist groups.

This book contains a lot of information relating to detecting terrorists BEFORE they strike. This is vitally important. The information out there on this is scattered all over the place and in varying detail. This book clearly and comprehensively covers many aspects of recognising terrorist pre-attack activities.

It includes information like some basic terrorist profiles and the pitfalls of profiling, terrorist cells and recognising key terrorist activities such as safe houses, terrorist surveillance techniques, terrorist attack cycle and terrorist tactics and intent.

It is quite detailed and at the same time doesn't waffle. It is useful, practical information all in the one place. Recommended highly.

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This book is an essential book for the intelligence operative, the fiction writer or anybody interested in the vital topic of terrorist operations. The author breaks the book down into understandable sections so that the reader can gain a comprehensive understanding of terrorism and terrorists. Afterward, you will understand weapons, cell organization, motivation, profiles and various active terrorist groups.

Well researched and written. The author does a good job providing the reader with fundamental knowledge in accordance with terrorism. A must read for anyone interested in learning more about this subject.

5-Stars on Mr. Nance's "Terrorist Recognition Hamdbook!" This should be considered a Terrorist Primer on terrorist awareness and preparedness for observing terrorist surveillance indicators and preplanning. It is "well-worth" the price tag and it is highly recommended!

Jeff Strohman, Antiterrorism Program Manager and Senior Instructor, USMC

Jim Gatheral has done everyone in quant fin a service by gathering and organizing his lectures, practical execution issues, and experience in this welcome volume, The Volatility Surface: A Practitioner's Guide. This is simply an excellent, clear work that defies the logic that good valuable books in finance don't get written because authors make more money elsewhere. Compare Gatheral with the execrable collection of disjointed papers with Jarrow's name slapped on it (Volatility, Jarrow, et al,1998). This is the book they were trying to write, but it took a practitioner who had his hands dirty and worked hard to try to explain what he was doing to write it.

Topics are rolled out extremely well, and Gatheral dives right in to where practitioners swim: volatility isn't a single data point, or a smile, but a surface and needs to be thought of that way. In explicating the volatility surface and the possible explanations for shapes Gatheral raises the level of conversation for everyone in the field: this is the way we must think of volatility now (until something better comes along, but given the curse of dimensionality my guess is we will be here for a very long time).

This is an excellent, necessary book. Full disclosure: I am not an expert in this field and only have friends who are (many of them are editorial and AMAZON reader reviewers cited here). This book assists me in having interesting and comprehensible conversations with them, but if there are any flaws they likely would escape me. So far, my friends who are experts all agree: thank you Jim Gatheral, excellent job. Very helpful and well worth the money.

The book is a great guide to understanding the different models used on Wall Street to capture the intricacies of modeling and pricing derivatives. The books focus of using models as a tool and NOT a solution is a great reminder to both traders and salespeople.
This summarized when the author describes the pricing of a digital cliquet.
"Those sellers using local Vol models will certainly value a digital cliquet at a lower price than sellers using stochastic volatility. Perversely then, those sellers using an inadequate model will almost certainly win the deal and end up short a portfolio of misvalued forward-starting digital options. OR even worse, a dealer could have an appropriate valuation approach but be pushed internally by the salespeople to match (mistaken) competitors' lower prices."

I found this book by Jim Gatheral very useful from a practical standpoint. His insight for trading applications is remarkable. I reccommend this book to any derivative trader to read from cover to cover. Its filled w/ useful tips and concepts that will save you and your firm from the many pitfalls that arise in marketers trying to satisfy their clients at the house's expense.

Managers should make this required reading for all traders.

The Volatility Surface is a MUST READ for anyone who desires a deep and practical understanding of the pricing and risk management of derivative claims. Thoughtful enough for academics but accessible to the practicioner. The picture on the back jacket is a masterpiece as well.

Too often we see authors unnecessarily overcomplicate mathematics. Jim Gatheral on the other hand does the reverse. By taking a difficult subject and presenting in a wonderfully concise and pedagogic style he shares with the reader his deep knowledge of volatility. Such an important financial quantity which still appears to invoke fear, Jim Gatheral uses his enviable blend of master practitioner and brilliant academic to combine both the real-world finance principles together with the underlying mathematics to demystify volatility.

The working is beautifully laid out, in a manner that is patient, friendly and approachable - and shows that quant finance need not look greek! This is the measure of a true genius!

As a teacher of mathematical finance, I have no hesitation in strongly recommending this book to students, researchers and practitioners in the field of derivatives.

This is an excellent "how to" book. It describes in detail all the steps required to properly lead a software development team. It pays particular attention to conflict resolution including examples on how to handle difficult situatuions and people. I get the impression that in Richard Whitehead's limited project experience he has had significant exposure to conflict.
It would have been useful if he had fully explored some of the other paths during conflict resolution. He explains what to do in certain circumstances, but does not go the additional step; what if it doesn't get results, what then?

Whitehead covers alot of the basics of team management. It shouldn't be difficult, and that what Whitehead explains through "questioned" title chapters. It works quite well because you can zero in on the question about leadership in your situation that may be plaguing your mind. The book is short and easy to read, so it can be read in about 3 days on a bus.

The author subscribes to making you aware of the qualities of good managers and how to handle common types of problems, like what to do when you don't have the technical knowledge about a problem, or how to handle difficult/disruptive team members. In summary, Whitehead helps you get into thinking like a ternary leader, that is you are part of a group, all working towards a common goal and you, (the teamleader/manager), should not dictate your "will and whim" to others.

The only criticism is that it is probably too light on the aspect of project management. There are issues about project management of people in terms of requirements, risk, scheduling that are not discussed. This book is about working with your colleagues not clients.... but overall a good read at a good price.

I bought this book in the middle of a project where we face lots of problems. We come accross about 90% of the problems that are describe in this book. How I wish I could have read this before involving in leading a project. The recommendation and advice are very practical. It took me a few trials to get to the solution by myself before this. Now I can just refer to this book whenever I have problem in handling project issues and save me lots of unnecessary trials. I highly recommend this for new project leaders.

After reading this book, I would say for sure that Richard Whitehead understands the role of the project lead. I would buy this book for a new, or existing lead, if I wanted him to understand the challenges he might face. I really applaud this and would add that many books feel like they were written from the outside looking in (sure, everyone on the outside wants twice the functionality in half the time!). I would love to see an update that included more strategies for success however. A lot of the solutions seemed to be based on a specific set of circumstances and personalities. Perhaps adding some examples from others who faced similar challenges, and overcame them with different methods, would increase the impact of this book.

While the programmer in me has often railed at the managers of software development, generally with very good reason, but admittedly sometimes for reasons that were less than pure, I do readily admit that it is a very difficult job. Humans tend to have distinct sets of skills, some of which seem to have a fundamental incompatibility. Writers of good software seem to be predisposed to having limited social and managerial skills and in general one needs to be able to understand a great deal about software in order to be able to manage its' creation. Programmers are also known as being "somewhat difficult" to organize, so even the best managers can be challenged by what is oftentimes an unruly bunch of developers.
However, difficult does not mean impossible, I have yet to meet a quality programmer who did not have a "weakness", that properly exploited, will cause them to work intensely and log an enormous amount of keyboard time. Teams are built in many ways, and Whitehead quite properly notes that many (most) successful teams are made of people who respect and rely on each other's skills, but may not personally like each other. Some of the most successful sports teams of all times were made up of players who did not speak to each other outside the bounds of play. Arguing and bickering, as long as it is within clearly defined boundaries, should be considered normal and tolerated. Attempts to dictate that people like each other and engage in silly "teambuilding" exercises more often lead to failure rather than success. Other examples in the book show the same good sense, as Whitehead clearly has experience in making projects work.
The book is split into sections, which are

* The new leader.
* Project management.
* Leading people.
* Requirements capture.
* Stress and conflict management.
* Relationship with management.
* Making decisions.
* Analysis and design.
* Testing and project release.

Under these sections, there are a total of 40 different points, with a header and explanation of some of the rights, wrongs and different shades of gray inherent in the points. While forty is not large enough to cover all possible contingencies, I cannot find a reason to criticize those that were chosen.
Writing good software is hard, and managing hard people is difficult. However, from this book you can find some very sound advice that will improve your chances of managing a project to a successful conclusion.

I believe in a spiritual way of business and no i am not rich but i am happy and honorable. This was helpful for it gave me a way to be honest and kind and find a way to my practice being all that it could be. I actually got four more clients after reading the book and listening to the cd. Thanks

This book really helps the healing practitioner realize what value they have. It also gives very practical advice for someone who wants to share their healing gifts. Whether you are just getting started in the healing gifts or you are a seasoned professional, this book will help you improve your bottom line.
Not many books are written especially to help the healer with our special circumstances, this book addresses all our problems in a loving inciteful way,
Rebecca Marina, professional workshop leader

Kathryn's course taught me the "business" side of healing and how to successfully market my services to clients. She helped me meld the spiritual aspect of being a practitioner with the physical in a clear, easy-to-follow process outlined in her practical, how-to book. I especially benefitted from her meditation guiding me to the powerful work I can do on the inner planes to expand my consciousness and increase my prosperity and success. Thank you, Kathryn, for so generously sharing what has clearly worked for you in your success.

Kathryn Alice's book and cd awakened in me the worth of my consciousness! And since consciousness precedes form, more clients have arrived.

Kathryn's work has inspired me to release small ideas of myself and reveal a more expanded and powerful version of me through my healing practice! I have seen direct results from following the guidlines in this book. My clients are booking series rather than single sessions. I have begun creating products,designed promotional materials and have built a website. I am grateful for the expansion of consciousness this course has facilitated and for inspiring me to give myself permission to be all that I can be. Many blessings to you Kathryn.

Sorry to the author - I feel bad writing bad reviews about well intentioned books, but there has to be *some* way of separating the wheat from the chaff.

It's actually not bad, it's just mediocre, yet-another-wicca-101, but aimed at the college crowd this time.
Or, less of a Wicca 101, more focused on just being a 'Wiccan at College', by someone not that experienced, interviewing the equally inexperienced (not being ageist here, I would have thought the same at 18 - actually, I'd have been a little more disparaging. Ooops), and really, there's not that much involved in 'being a wiccan at college' or enough insight in the concept for the size of the book.

I'd recommend 21st Century Wicca instead, it has a chapter or so on practising in college situations etc which seems a better substitute.

As you could probably already guess, ROCKING THE GODDESS is aimed at Wiccans in college. Paige takes his knowledge of being a college student and interviews with other Wiccans in college around the country in a textbook-style format (but not in a boring way).

ROCKING starts out introducing the history of the Craft, which is a "must-know" for Wiccans, then into stories and interviews by Paige with other collegiate Wiccans all over the US talking about their struggles - and even doing ritual in a dorm room. Although it is aimed at college students living on campus, it is still perfect for the student living at home or on their own. Also included are a few spells to help the reader out with their studies - a wonderful idea for the stressful days that we call "finals."

The main point of the book, though, is to inspire the young Wiccan with a message of hope: you are not alone. Others are struggling with "being in the broom closet" and fighting for equal religious rights on campus. Don't give up.

As a freshman in college, I found this book to be a tremendous help. The Wicca 101 stuff aside, it helps to address serious issues, such as being in the broom closet, working rituals in dorm rooms (that can be quite a hassle), sexuality and Wicca, the campus coven and Pagan student union groups, and even drugs in their relation to the Craft (something few other books have discussed in depth). But my favorite part of this book is the fact that it's full of interviews from Pagans in college, and since I love firsthand experiences, I couldn't put it down. The resource guide and small section on rituals and spells is also a plus. Be you new to the Craft or veteran, this book is a real treat for the college Pagan.

When Anthony Paige calls this book "Not your parents Wicca" he was right. Mostly aimed at the college witch, he covers everything I feel is essential for the younger beginner pagan. Being a college witch himself, this book was written with a lot of first hand experiences, and he goes out of the way to get many other perspectives of the life of many other college witches.

Anthony has separated this book into 3 sub books. The first is "A Witches Knowledge-Core Requirements". He first starts by giving an excellent overview of the history of Wicca. Then he moves onto explaining the different traditions, and sharing stories of those he has talked to.

Chapter 4 is where he begins to explain Magick and Ritual. I particularly liked was the fact he explains that you don't need a lot of fancy tools to work Magick. Most of us, in college or out, don't have a lot of extra money to go out and buy that 50$ bottle of essential oil. He gave ideas for making tools that cost next to nothing.

Book 2 is "A Witches Power-Electives". In this section he covered the areas of coming out the broom closet, campus covens, and solitary practice. I related a lot with some of the stories about coming out of the broom closet.

Anthony also gives excellent ways of finding a coven for yourself if you so desire to do so. Solitary Sorcery is the other part of this section which he covered and I liked. Along with giving ways for solitary practice, he also deals with roommates who may not understand, and space problems.

In the third and final section of his book, he gives a few spells, lists of different Goddess and Gods, ways of finding college witches worldwide, and Rocking the Goddess. Rocking the Goddess includes the Charge of the Goddess and God. Also listed are a few pagan music artists and at least 20 web sites for further study

I know when I started practicing Wicca several years ago my freshman year at university I felt I was stuck in the middle between the Teen Witch books and the somewhat intimidating Farrar, etc. books. I made do with the Ravenwolf selection, but I wish I had had this book back then. It's written in a very clear, brisk manner, and relates to many of the concerns of the college Witch. I especially like the chapter where Paige does a little 'human interest' background, relating the inspiring and sometimes heartbreaking stories of the college witches he has encountered. Buy it for these if you buy this book for no other reason.

This book is very well written, content-rich and provides a plethora of examples that I can use on the job immediately. What more can a software developer ask for? I would give it 10 stars if the option was available.

This book is great ! Really ! I pratice OO development especially following RUP. This book describe a full Usability process, with activities, guidelines, workload estimation and artifacts. You can directly put it at work, because you naturally see why an activity leads to another. All the book is good, even if it seems heavy (500+ pp), there is no waste of space. As a RUP practitioner, it's very easy to integrate this approach into the RUP and it naturally fits with Use Cases. Believe me: get it !

Or do other people think there is a need for creativity in user interface design? This book, while very helpful in providing a set of procedures to follow when evaluating users and their particular needs, leaves out the very important concept of the ART of user interface design. I see plenty of recommends for Tufte's trilogy of user oriented design books and for the book "Don't Make Me Think". These books are much more readable, and none of them are nearly so formulaic in their approach to user interface design.

Another problem I have with this book, and with many other computer books, is the size. Why does it take so much to say so little? Is there an editor in the house? There is definitely some good content in this book. I happens to be buried in a mountain of text.

This book gives concrete data on the "how-to" of usability engineering and realistic data regarding the *selling process* of these concepts to management. Additionally, it can function as a "how-to" handbook with its many examples. To name a few, the examples include: pre-evaluation, evaluation and post-evaluation questionnaries, data collection sheets and data analysis and report sheets.

The book has a fantastic index for quick reference and is organized well.

I have never written a review before, but I am so impressed with this book - it is indispensable. I particularly like the way the information is presented - very readable. Also valuable are the sections that address shortcuts and alternatives for applying techniques in the real world. I often am called to get involved during and after development and have to adapt "perfect world" techniques into very short cycles. This is a must have for people in our profession.

Very well structured foundation for developing the work breakdown structure you need to staff ITIL. Lays a good framework for designing processes to ensure all the bases are covered. I recommend this book as a good suppliment to ITIL adoptors who are laying the groundwork for their organizations.

I am an ITIL V2 Service Manager and ITIL V3 Expert with multiple practitioner certifications. I am also an ITIL assessor for an ITIL examination institute. I know Randy Steinberg and teach ITIL for some of the same customers he does. To be perfectly honest, at first I was somewhat skeptical of his idea that all IT organizations deliver essentially the same services. Having read this book, though, I understand now exactly where he is coming from. This book is an excellent starting point and guide to a very, very difficult task for organizations implementing ITIL -- defining the Service Catalog in business language, rather than technical terms. If you consider that a good Service Catalog can lay the foundation for a correct Configuration Management Database, and that the CMDB is the key to good Service Management processes and functions, this book is an invaluable tool for anyone implementing ITIL.

Fantastic!!! This book is extremely well written and easy to enjoy - I read through 30 pages or so in no time. I shared the book with my team and my manager immediately turned around and ordered copies for my coworkers - nothing like buying a product that makes you look good to your boss. My team is implementing ITIL and we had some key questions about service definitions that we had been stuck on for months. This book answered all of those questions - better yet, it told us the process we should follow, not just a canned out-of-the-box answer. The Measuring ITIL book is also good (my boss ordered just a couple copies of that for the folks who are doing the metrics for our team). I went ahead and ordered the Implementing ITIL book. If the Implementing ITIL is as good as the other two books, I'm sure we'll find a use for it.

I'am certified IPSR and IPRC, and i have some knowledge about IT governance and ITIL. I bought this book, hoping that this material could give me a broder view of ITIl and practical examples of ITIL implementations and real-life challenges. However this books its only a service catalog, with a dozens of example services and its descriptions. And thats it! If you're looking for real-life examples or simply ITIL methodology or proccess descriptions forget about it. Take another book.

This is an outstanding book for those of us trying to create service catalogs. It give you everything you need to build a solid foundation. I've already recommended this to several colleagues.

Don't take this lightly - THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. I read it back to front in two days just marvelling at the integrally-informed genius of Peter McNab.

I haven't come across too many books on Integral Theory or Graves' SD model that are this accessible. Correspondingly, I haven't some across too many NLP books that cover this level of all quadrant depth.

Peter's style is chatty but not facile, and thorough but not sleepy. I was so drawn to his first person writing style, and the hands-on nature of his work.

It's a real joy.

Peter McNab has written a inspiring and thought provoking book which takes most of the latest thinking from the NLP movement and elegantly integrates it with Wilbers philosophies. This creativity supplies the reader with pragmatic tools to analyse life situations and develop real actions. An excellent balance of academic thought and practical methods to improve any 'self-developers' life or as an aid to therapists in the field.

First I have to say the editing job really detracted from my experience of the book. there are words that are missing and words that are wrong in many places, so that was frustrating. Besides that I found the book lucid in many places toward the end, where it begins to get to the real meat and potatoes of NLP Spiral Dynamics and some Integral theory. I felt like i had to wade through a lot of reading to get to some key points and their elucidations, however they are in there.

I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. It is so wonderfully easy to read despite the complex subjects it covers. Peter McNab has a delightful way of writing so that it comes across so naturally - interspersed continually with interesting stories, anecdotes and examples in order to make the material clear to understand. It contains many practical exercises for the reader to do, which brings the content alive and renders it useful and valuable. I will dip into this book over and over again and definitely use its suggestions throughout my life.
An invaluable book for anyone wishing to journey inside of themselves in order to help to create a nicer world.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

An amazingly easy to read and understand book about NLP, Ken Wilbers quadrants and Clare Graves Values Model. Combining all the above into a very readable and enjoyable format. A must for both advanced NLP'ers and complete beginners alike.

It's so rare to read a piece of nonfiction, particularly medical nonfiction, and be able to tell that the authors truly care. This is one of these books! Many thanks to the authors for putting it together so beautifully!

I found this book to be hugely informative and helpful. The authors give readers information from both the physicians' and patients' point of view. Definitely recommended for FM and CFS patients and the people who care about them.

I really enjoyed this book. It is easy to read and provides a wealth of information about various ways to treat and cope with fibromyalgia. It is particularly nice to hear the stories and experiences of others who have this illness. This book is unlike any other out there and I want to thank the authors for writing it.

This is the book that I've been trying to find for years! The authors have done a wonderful job of interweaving the stories of patients with the helpful advise from practitioners of all kinds. It is great to have the full range of treatments from both conventional medicine as well as alternative & complementary medicine. The stories from the patients are so validating to hear. It helps to know that I am not alone in my daily job of managing this illness. The resource guide and bibliography are invaluable. Thank you SO much for writing this book!

I found this book to be very disappointing. All this book basically is is interviews with doctors and patients in regards to different treatment alternatives. If you are trying to TREAT fibromyalgia, i definitely do not recommend this book. If you really want someones gripes and groans about fibromyalgia you can get that point of view FREE on line on Fibromyalgia web sites. If you want alternative treatments options- try The Fibromyalgia Nutrition Guide, although this book is all about nutrition, it is very easy to us and very helpful- All us fibromyalgics know about homeopathic stuff already such as massage and Alternative Treatments just reiterates that and has patients and doctor points of view on Massage, Chiropractic care, Etc....

This book is a great book for a beginner. Easy to read and learn about basic homeopathic remedies.

I LOVED THIS BOOK BECAUSE OF ITS PERCISE DETAIL AND INSTRUCTIONS. I NEEDED TO KNOW IMPORTANT IMFORMATION ABOUT WHAT TO GIVE TO MY RABBITS SMOKEY,LUCKY,AND JACK. WHEN THEY NEEDED THEIR NAILS CLIPPED OR THEY WERE ACTING WEIRD I USED TO GO RIGHT TO THE VETS. NOW I CAN DO ALL OF THAT ON MY OWN. THIS BOOK TAUGHGT ME ABOUT THE DIFFERENT MEDICINES AND THE BEST ONES TO USE FOR THE SICKNESS OF MY BUNNIES. IT ALSO TAUGHT ME THE SYMPTOMS OF CERTAIN DESEASES AND IT TOLD ME RATHER OR NOT I NEEDED TO GO TO THE VETS! IF YOU DO NOT ALL READY HAVE THIS TO DIE FOR BOOK I HIGHLY RECOMEND YOU BUY IT NOW WHILE SUPPLIES LASTS!!!!!!!!!!

My second favorite reference book when it comes to the homeopathic treatment of cats, and my number one choice when it comes to acute health situations. The conditions are in alphabetical order, so you can find the information you need in a hurry. This book is quite simple to use, especially if you have little or no background in homeopathy.

I was trying to find a desk reference or "materia medica" of sorts for using homeopathy with animals. I have been brought up on homeopathic care for myself above going to doctors for colds, allergies and the like so now that I have a cat I am beginning to question typical veterinary practice, especially since my cat was prescribed amoxicillin for an upper respiratory cold and it was even flavored orange - you can imagine trying to give that to an animal that would prefer fish over citrus.

This book had some cute illustrations but was more of a story-book that I would have really had to read through all of than a quick, practical reference that I could turn to in recognising and treating symptoms.

Homeopathic First Aid for Animals: Tales and Techniques from a Country Practitioner, by by Kaetheryn Walker is probably the first book I reach for when a medical crisis arises. While this is not the book one needs to search for consitutional remedies, it is a must for those sudden acute conditions that pop up unexpectedly. As the manager of a small feline sanctuary where I care for over 40 cats, I recommend this book highly.