Electronics Books

I am in the process of starting my own specialized tour business and brought this book out of hibernation for review. I had purchased it a couple years ago and it has just been marking time.

The author has done a superb job of guiding someone through the minefield of travel marketing --- and her advice still holds up to date.

I'm sure someone can find fault with not being 'up to date' since 9/11, yet this is flawless strategy that one only needs to update by adding a Google Adwords program, and possibly some eBay listings.

Reminds me of buying a mint 5 year old Porsche, which still offers all the amenities, yet one could upgrade the sound system if you wanted.

If you are going into the travel business, or almost any business for that matter, this is a classic that you can use and adjust accordingly to fit your niche.

Well worth it.

Marketing on the Internet can lead you down a series of complicated and confusing paths. But, if you're in charge of marketing a destination or lodging, gain the upper hand by reading Susan Sweeney's "Internet Marketing for Your Tourism Business."

As soon as you begin thumbing through this 562-page resource, you¹ll want to begin highlighting important passages. Whatever you do, resist that temptation. Why? Because if you start highlighting the important stuff, the entire book will be yellow before you know it!

Sweeney discusses basic marketing principles, web site design, the importance of search engine placement, targeting tourism newsgroups and mailing lists, building web site traffic, using e-mail effectively, developing link strategies with complementary businesses, advertising on line, accepting online reservations, maximizing media relations, and determining if webcasting is right for your site.

I love the fact that Sweeney uses real world examples from the travel industry to illustrate her points throughout the book. You¹ll learn how the Expedias of this world made it to the top.

"Internet Marketing for Your Tourism Business" is packed with tips that any tourism professional can use to enhance his or her company's presence on the web. Even if you don't have time to read the book thoroughly, it's worth the cover price for the massive Appendix. It¹s got a great section defining web terms, as well as a comprehensive list of Internet marketing resources.

This book is incredible. I am a bed and breakfast operator and I wanted to have a serious online presence, but didn't know how. I searched was looking for an Internet marketing book and was astonished when I found this book which was written specifically for my industry. This book is fantastic and was just the tool that I needed to begin implementing my online marketing strategy. I would recommend this book to all Tourism operators who have an online presence, or are considering going online.

This is an excellent book for hotel and travel managers as it contains tons of useful information and practical advice. Wheather you have an inhouse webmaster or are outsourcing the task (like I do), it will help you market better on the internet. I read it along with Heads In Beds-Hospitality and Tourism Marketing, and have improved my marketing activities ever since. Now I'm annoying my colleagues by telling them to read both. But those who did were grateful. A must read.

Our family is opening a modest Inn in Bangkok, Thailand later this year, so I decided to purchase this book after reading all the rave reviews. I started browsing through this book today and boy am I impressed! The title of this book seemed rather generic at first, but it more or less covered everything I wanted to know about how to market for my inn on the WWW.

Topics that were of most interest to me included: increasing hits for your site on popular search engines, tips for creating great websites, how to issue press releases and how to get listed on pertinent directories.

The author obviously put in ALOT of research before putting pen to paper to write this book. The recommended websites alone (at the end of each chapter) are well worth the money spent. My only complaint is that many of the recommended links are outdated or broken - but this is by no means the fault of the author... A must buy!

This book is excellent. The author has the unique ability to cover the subject in great detail including all the theory, but yet make the reading very easy and enjoyable. I was amazed that I could read 750 pages of advanced and new material in a few weeks.

The 130 page! chapter on crosstalk is a Masterpiece. It is the crowning chapter of the book. There is nothing like it anywhere else. Almost everything the author covers is done better than in any other place. For example, signal spectra is covered in hundreds of books, yet the author has an original way of calculating spectra based on Dirac delta functions which I have never seen before; he covers the tricky subject of partial inductance beautifully, etc.

I feel like the other reviewer who wants to shake the author's hand if he meets him.

This review is a partial repeat of an old review under the name "reader". It was for the first edition. I assume the typos are corrected.

I consider that this book is a very good start point to introduce oneself into the EMC topic. Clear and pedagogic with a lot of numerical examples and well chosen exercises.

This book makes learning EMC as easy as counting one to three. Very logical, easy to understand, and makes you to think how EMC can be fun and challenging. A very good reference book, easpcially if you love to see things simplified mathimatically.

Starting first with the negatives, of which they are four. First, do not be fooled by the title word "introduction." This is NOT a book for beginners, but rather senior engineers. If you are new to EMC this is not the book for you. Second, information relative to FCC/CE requirements is dated. Also, some tests relative to CE compliance are not covered. Third, though there are many diagrams, there are almost no pictures. In many cases I found a picture, as opposed to a diagram would have been far more explanatory. Lastly (though it does not bother me in the least, but I thought you would like to know), the book has numerous typos through out its 752 pages.

Ahhhhhh, but what the book is, IS ABSOLUTLY WONDERFUL! As an experienced design consultant, I found information in this book that I have not, and could not find anywhere else. The author has A COMMAND of the subject and it shows. Compared to my peers, I consider myself fairly well versed in the subject of EMC as it pertains to design and debug, but I took a back seat when reading. It was useful even re-reading the things I already knew. The author always offered a new insight. Funny, but after I finished (and it took a while to read) my first thought was "I would really like to meet this guy - to personally request a sequel." For what it is, THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENT, well worth the asking price.

This book is excellent. The author has the unique ability to cover the subject in great detail including all the theory, but yet make the reading very easy and enjoyable. I was amazed that I could read 750 pages of advanced and new material in a few weeks. The book unfortunately has many errors and typos which prevents me from giving it 5 stars.

If you are as new to the computer world and online investing as I am, then reading this little "Blue Book" is just the tool for you. It will take you through the entire process from useful internet terms to buying and selling securities on the internet. It's amazing how much information is compressed in that little "Blue Book". A must-have book for beginners.

I loved this book. Not only is its information concise and pertinent, but its illustrations make it a feast for the eyes. Its numerous lists of Web-sights are practical and resourceful, its information is up-to-date, and even for the computer-savvvy Investor, its helpful tips and hints are a time-saver. Plus, since its format is that of a 'guidebook' , its very handy to carry around or to pass to a friend. And I liked the fact that the book is durable and artistic; two features that make the book a keeper and/or a great gift. I'd recommend this book for anyone who is interested in looking into the opportunities of investing on-line seriously.

People seem to fall into two computer and internet categories: those who have an ever-deeper understanding and appreciation of that world, and those of us who feel intimidated the instant we hit "enter". What a gift INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET FOR INVESTORS is, making the complex simple, the ambiguous clear. Its cleverly and attractively done - amazingly easy to read - and something I can work through step-by-step. Thank you, KSI, for giving us a tool us neophytes can use with enthusiasm.

Well, it is about time that "normal" folks like myself have access to something that can really help them. "INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET FOR INVESTORS" goes a long way toward helping me get a grasp on what all my friends have been talking about for so long. Finally I feel like I can join in because I was able to learn so much from this book. It is easy to read and so well illustrated that its like having an instructor in the room with me. The pictures of the windows screens were very easy to understand. It dares you to not follow along!

The best kept secret in this book though might be the chapter that lists search engines and worthwhile sites. I have no doubt that reading this book has made me money. What better endorsement is there than that!

A wonderful resource to help anyone get started investing on the Internet! Very concise, step-by-step instructions as well as helpful hints and directions to resourceful web-sites, bring confidence to the investor using the Internet for the first time. Even "seasoned" Internet investors with find this book a valuable resource and reference. "introduction to the internet for investors" is a must for every Internet investor!

This book is the best way for anyone who want to work with the Real Time Image Proccesing.

Thanks to the Autor ......

I first read a friend's copy of this book, it was already out of print and he had lost the CD, but the tecniques and ideas in this book are clearly written and easy to read. This is an excellent reference even if you are not working in Java (which I wasn't at the time) The Ideas are easily adaptable to C - C++ and the information and theories are fundamental to understanding 3D imaging from Movie Special Effects to Gaming. I spent 2 years trying to track down a copy with a CD and finally found it through Amazon.com, Thanks Amazon!

Don't let the age of this book fool you. It is basically all about the algorithms necessary for producing visual effects in both 2D and 3D that just happens to use Java as an implementation language.
The first chapter is titled "Easy Animation." The chapter's main focus is creating quickly loaded images, and reducing flicker.
Chapter two covers sound and is eight pages long. Two pages are sample code. Remember this book was written when Java had very primitive sound support.
Chapter three goes deep into image processing. The end result is that this chapter shows you how to code many of the special effects found in PhotoShop. Wave, ripple, and explode filters and 3D button effects among others are included here. To me this chapter is the one that stands the test of time the best due to all of the algorithms shown.
Chapter four covers two-dimensional rendering. The main topic of this chapter is creating small animations based on single pictures. The author introduces his framework class "ImageProcessor" first in this chapter.
Chapter five is entitled "Entering the Third Dimension". A really interesting star field program is included that was written, of course, before Java3D. Other programs include a bouncing ball and some take-offs of the star field. Then a 3D spiral program is introduced. The chapter dives back into the ImageProcessor class next. A program to break apart a picture and put it back together ends the chapter.
Chapter six discusses the now obsolete VRML. 3D transformations, movement in 3D, and wire and shaded objects are all covered, quickly and with no sympathy for the novice. A full page and half is dedicated to a discussion of VRML. This is a lot for this book. Most topics get explained once, very quickly and then it's off to the next topic. Several pages are dedicated to explaining a turning cube script. The Matrix3D class is covered next. Navigation is covered briefly, and wireframes are introduced. Shading is covered very lightly then a truly monster program for a so-called "basic" Model3D class is given. This is twelve pages of code. A second program follows that allows you to view Model3D. The chapter ends with a discussion on precalculating movement and passing HTML to the VRML animator, which is also included. There are interesting ideas here, but VRML is old hat and the code will require adapting to more modern needs.
Chapter seven is titled "Adding Realism." The main targets of this chapter are shading, illuminating, and textures--all, of course, very important to making that virtual world look real. The chapter walks through the creation of a cube in wire form then shows how to fill in the surfaces and begin shading. Shadows and perspective are discussed, then another little jewel is given. Listing 7.7 "Creating a 3D object from an image" and the accompanying viewer in 7.8 show how to take a title, make it 3D and shadow it. Texture is covered in great depth with lots of good code and more interesting tricks with pictures. The rest of the chapter is one long update to the Model3D class introduced earlier.
Chapter eight gets into tricks with text. This chapter is crammed with interesting scroll tricks. Late in the chapter some great 3D text scroll scripts, like a 3D spiral, are given.
Chapter nine is titled "Navigation." The keys to this chapter are frames, tracking the mouse and 3D animated menus. This stuff gets more directly into HTML.
Chapter ten is about making imaging effects look better and load fast. Some of this material is dated because the author is writing from the viewpoint of Java 1.0.2.
The appendix is a great summary of classes and commands used in the book. It serves as a very good reference source and is very helpful when trying to read through the programs in the book. The CD-ROM contains some shareware and freeware and a Java version of the old game "Asteroids". Most importantly it contains all the programs in the book. The shareware is pretty ancient and source code for the shareware is not included.
Even though this book was obviously written at a time when Java's main purpose was to jazz up web pages, it is still interesting for people who already know Java and basic computer graphics and are looking for some interesting graphic effects and their explanations. The two main bad points about this book are:
1. Everything is in the form of an applet. This is certainly due to the fact that the contents were written in 1996.
2. For a book that is supposed to be about graphic effects, the illustrations are very shoddy and they are all in black and white.
In spite of these drawbacks, it is a good source of information on how to perform effects at the pixel level, and in that respect the book will never be obsolete.

Java games are a hobby of mine, and I must say this the most practical book for the topic that I've found. It contains great practical examples, and doesn't stray from the subject - programming techniques that allow you to produce excellent-looking applets. Ever see those flashy slideshow applets, with various special effects? This book will show you how to construct one by yourself, explaining each step with great detail. It goes through great extent in helping you understand what you're doing, all while sticking close to subject, without beating around the proverbial bush.
The only downside to this book is its coverage of sounds in Java - if you need help with sounds and sounds alone, don't buy this book. It contains a miniscule amount of information regarding the subject - namely just a brief introduction to sounds, and usage of the Applet class' primitive audio playback functions (Java has great support for generating audio on-the-fly, which this book does not cover).

Lack of detailed sound documentation doesn't take away the value of this book, however, and I recommend it to anyone who would like to produce "kickass java" applets.

Firstly, as expected this book is not for the beginner programmer. It has excellent, working, examples which really takes you to the "cutting edge". Its focus is more on advanced animation (game-like programming techniques) and doesn't include for example database design and implementation, etc. Overall an excellent book, and for everyone bored with simple java UI's

This book was very informative and gave solid advice on the how's, to's, what's, when's, and not to's of the business. I would recommend it for first timers especially.

A great methodical approach to getting your Yahoo! Stores e-business started quickly, efficiently, and effectively. If you're going to invest your time, energy, and money in a business, buying this book is the best investment you'll make. It highlights tips, key points, and presents worksheet appendices you can utilize for a quick start. Questions you're wise to address before you open your business are presented, along with web sites to consult as you make your decisions. The many screen displays are helpful in guiding you through the process.

This is a great book from beginning to end. It helps you identify key points to creating an online store and provides you with the resources and information to make it happen. I had a website in the past and after reading this book, I realized what I could have done better.

Whether you're a first time Yahoo! Store owner or a seasoned vet, this book is perfect. For first timers it walks you through setting up your store in an easy and straightforward manner. For the existing store owner, it acts as a refresher course on how to manage your store, and you may even learn something new. Highly recommended for ANY and EVERY Yahoo! Store owner.

I was impressed at how this book introduces the whole ecommerce concept in language that won't make beginners cringe, and at the same time it contains enough advanced concepts to keep more established business owners interested. I really like how this book goes into detail about the steps of setting up an online store because I know a lot of people who are afraid to try things out on the web with no prior experience. The book gives many examples so concepts like templates and inventory control won't confuse fledgling entrepreneurs. The authors seem to know quite a bit about the how people use the Internet, and I can appreciate that type of sensibility as a web developer.

I recommend this book to those who want to get their feet wet in the rapidly growing ecommerce industry, and for those who already have businesses on the web... this makes for a solid reference manual. For those who currently run a Yahoo! store, there are dozens of things in the book which will help you grow your business. In fact it introduces a LOT of marketing concepts that many people dont know about when selling merchandise online.

This is the best lego mindstorms book ever printed it is in-depth in the theory behind the robots.

This is the book of the greatest, most complex Lego pieces to date, and I highly recommend it to anyone thoroughly engrossed in the area of Lego programming. It is an invaluable resource with amazing graphics, and very creative new inventions which serve as a wonderful catalyst for my own ideas. Great guide.

This book has gathered together "Masterpieces" from some of the the world's greatest LEGO creators. Builders from the US, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, and Japan have brought you their passions, the theories behind each masterpiece, and detailed building and programming techniques. "LEGO Mindstorms Masterpieces" is truly at the zenith of all related books and I believe it will become a true masterpiece both in name and in reality.

This book began in July of 2002. And, while the the creation, writing and editing was extremely difficult, the authors fought mightily to accomplish our goal: to build LEGO robots both suitable for Master Builders and worthy of this book's title! Amazing PneumADDic II and Synchropillar by Kevin as a computer processor specialist and creator of LPub and LSynth. Splendid Stair-Climber by Doug who is a well known creator of several Omni Drive Vehicles. And, two awesome works - Learning Brick Sorter and The LEGO Turing Machine that were invented by the famous Ferrari brothers - they are co-authors of the best selling "Building Robots with LEGO Mindstorms" and have been called the "DaVincis of LEGO". Biped robot expert Miguel created complex SSCT faithfully based on the real robot that was active for life search and explore in WTC, New York. Lastly, a robotic arm driven by 10 motors and feedback system - CyberArm IV that I have created as a series in four years. All of these are the real robots that are backed by real robotics - only the materials are LEGO! We are very pleased that we could explore a new frontier in LEGO Mindstorms, and be able to offer it in book form.

As the one of pioneers of LEGO robots, I have had my experience of the results in the MIT Media Lab fortunately in the middle of the 80s, and the result of my writing of over half year keeping is included in bundle CD-ROM as a over 50 pages bonus chapter. I have tried to write about a lot of topics to explain the world of robots and LEGO Mindstorms - history of LEGO robot or their philosophy of the LEGO Group, precious list and description of early LEGO educational sets for control learning, personal robot boom in the 80s, from a more than 300-year-old Japanese automata (the Karakuri) to the latest state-of-the-art robotics. I believe that my discussion and description about the way of thinking and creation - included building, programming, CAD and even about Art - are useful in particular.

We hope that this book will never lose its value and that it will become loved by people of all generations.

From Tokyo
Hideaki Yabuki
Media Activist

Included are complete building instructions for some truly amazing robots/machines. You'll need LOTS of Lego to build them though. Even if you haven't you'll be inspired by the authors imagination and ingenuity. The writing is good, and the descriptions/instructions detailed and clear.
The best reason though for buying the book is the included CD which contains no less than ten other Mindstorms books in PDF format,including the most excellent 'Building Robots with Lego Mindstorms'. I had expected to find software and sample programs, but their absence is more than made up for by the books.

After building many of the robots presented in Lego Mindstorms Masterpieces published by Syngress, I feel I am now qualified to give a fair personal assessment of this book. I have purchased many Lego Mindstorms books and each one has great ideas and a lot to offer. All books have shortcomings and room for improvement. How good a book is depends on how well it address the readers needs. My needs center on my use of Lego Mindstorms to teach mechanical engineering, logic, programming and robotics to my 13-year-old daughter. Lego Mindstorms Masterpieces is the newest addition to our Lego toolbox. There are so many positive things to say about this publication I'll place the very few items I would have preferred done differently at the end of this review.

A few key benefits this book offers to anyone involved with Lego Mindstorms are complete, well illustrated assembly instructions, detailed commentary by the authors with additional tips to aid in the construction, explanations of where the inspirations for the creation came from with historical references, web site listings for additional information and a e-book CD-ROM with program files. Many of the authors have active web sites of their own and are available to generously help people stuck during construction.

Lego Masterpieces not only expand the reader's knowledge of Lego Mindstorms applications, but engineering and robots in general. The concepts presented can be applied anywhere the logic, computers, or machines are designed and built. The book shows that the construction of a machine must go hand in hand with the programming to best fit an application. Giulio Ferrari explores basic Artificial Intelligence and the foundations of modern computers with the Turing Machine. Another chapter presents the mechanics and theory of creating logic cells amazingly through the use of pneumatics and then combining them into the synchronous PneumADDic II calculating machine by Kevin Clague. And again by Kevin, the building of an asynchronous artificial muscle using Autonomous Pneumatic Circuits in the Synchropillar without RCX programmed control. An all terrain wheeled vehicle by Doug Carlson uses his Tri-Star drive design called the Stair Climber and will crawl over and out of almost anything. A spy robot by Miguel Aguilio called The Shape-Shifting Camera Tank utilizes Vision Command's camera, can increase or decrease it's height and you may control it with it's own Lego parts constructed joystick. The Learning Brick Sorter by Mario Ferrari, which combines a robotic arm with an automated task, blends the machine with excellent basic AI programming, which can learn new tasks. And finally, the most advance Lego robotic arm I've ever seen is in the chapter on CyberArm IV by Hideaki Yabuki. Not only does this arm have five Degrees of Freedom and 180-degree rotation, but you can also build the optional Power Glove to operate the robotic arm from your own hand movements!

The few complaints I have of this book are that the Bill Of Materials on some of the chapters are printed so small and illegible that I couldn't read them with a magnifying glass! Adding a page and printing the illustrations larger and clearer would have better represented the quality of the overall material. The other complaint is found in most books. Someone should proof read it before publication. Spell checkers don't think!

My final message about this book is BUY IT and start collecting the parts you'll need. It expands the frontiers of Lego Mindstorms and you'll need all the parts you can get your hands on!

This is the first of the three books in the series The Lord of the Rings. In the beginning, a hobbit called Bilbo Baggins celebrates 111th birthday. He then disappears to go live with the Elves in a place called Rivendell, and leaves everything to his nephew, Frodo Baggins, including a mysterious and magical ring that he found long time ago. Frodo is advised by Gandalf to go to Rivendell, and to take the ring, and to never wear it. Gandalf fears that it might be the Ring of Power (the ring that belongs to the evil lord Sauron), so he goes to Rivendell where a council is met. Frodo agrees to take the ring to Mount Doom with the help of others this group form the Fellowship. As they go, they meet various encounters, and in the end of the book, Sauron's army fights the group and steals some of the Hobbits.
I chose to read this book because I heard it was very popular. Also, I heard that the book was a fantasy book tied in with magic, battles, and a great quest. I liked reading it and I knew what was happening because I read the book The Hobbit. Then I decided to read the prologue. I also liked to read the book because it was full of adventure and danger.
My favorite part was when Gandalf faced off the monster in the shadow of the mines of Moria. It started when the Fellowship began to make their way to Isengard. Gandalf decided to lead the group into a climb through the mountains. They noticed a large group of crows flying their way. Figuring that it was some of Sauron's spies, they tried to go through the ice caps of other mountains. Then Saruman the wizard tried to stop them. So they had no choice but to go through the mines of Moria where a monster lives. This is a fire-demon monster that lives. Gandalf tried to fight the monster but Gandalf and the monster fell and the Fellowship thought Gandalf died.

Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Ring
By J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring is an action packed magical thriller. It keeps you on edge with every flip of the page.
The book begins with the old Bilbo Baggins planning for his one hundredth and eleventh birthday. Half the Shire's been invited! It looks as though it'll be a night to remember. When Bilbo vanishes during his birthday speech, he leaves the crowd in awe. Seeing as how he is now leaving, for another adventure, and shan't be returning, he leaves his precious Bag End and all his possessions behind. His heir and second cousin one-removed, Frodo Baggins now has to carry the responsibility of taking the One Ring to Mordor to be destroyed.
To get to Mordor, Frodo must leave his beloved Shire and travel through Old forests, empty plains, and rocky mountains. He soon reaches Rivendale, with the help of a strange Rider, Aragorn, and an elf named Arwin. From there, Frodo and his three faithful companions, Merry, Pippin, and Sam become part of the Fellowship of the Ring.
To find out more, read the book!

I found this book to be delightful at all hours of the day for all ages! I highly recommend it if you're looking for a great adventure with out even leaving your couch!

Finally, a book I actually like, in and out! Tolkien amazes me with his ability to imagine the diverse characters and places in The Lord of the Rings. This book portrays leadership, and the long enduring of good in an evil world. I am very pleased with the detail that Tolkien puts into the novel so that the reader can understand completely each situation. Tolkien writes the book so that the readers feel as if it could be real. It's an outstanding novel that teaches us that we need to bear our burdens and stick together so that good can prevail in a world of such turmoil.
Tolkien has made me think a lot more about my characteristics and whether or not I would be able to bear the ring. Would I be able to withstandthe temptation of putting on the ring? Or using it's power for my own good? It's an outstanding concept. This book leaves you in anticipation for the next. The suspense of what is going to happen next is nerve-racking.
Overall, I just enjoyed the material, and I feel that Tolkein is a very experienced writer. He knows how to captivate readers, and enthral their minds into the book.

This is a must have if you purchase the game. Now this is NOT the best game in the world. It is not advised to even purchase this game, it is slow... You'd be safer to go with the two towers. But if you do buy this game (probably for the same reason I did..which was it is LOTR and I just have to own it) this is the ideal companion for you. The beginning of the game is very very hard. It takes awhile to get around the Ringwraith riders, and when you finally do you go into another part of town where unless y ou know what you are doing you wont be able to find your way out. So dont expect the game to be simple, it isn't much fun, in fact it is quite aggrivating. But if you do buy the game you have to buy this so you actually know what you are doing, and not wandering around like a fool in the woods...as I was until I read some of this ;)

I haven't played many games of this type, but I'm a huge Tolkien fan so I decided to try the game. I have to be honest-I couldn't even get out of the Shire ( the first level) until I bought this guide! I ended up using it religiously along the way, because there were many sections where I wouldn't have had any idea what I was supposed to do otherwise. For instance, there's a section in Moria where, without the guide, I would *never* have figured out where I was supposed to go, even though I religiously explore every nook and cranny when playing these types of games.

Once I bought the guide, it took me about a week to finish the game. Since then, I've decided to play it again, without referring to the guide, to see if I can make it all the way through by memory.

The book is very comprehensive, and avoids using terms that the casual gamer wouldn't understand-it doesn't talk over your head, and it's very straight forward and easy to understand. The screen shots are helpful, so that you can see what sections of the game they're referring to.

As a little added perk, this book, while showing you all of the ins and outs, still leaves a couple of tiny goodies out-not essential ones, just a couple little perks, so it still pays to explore as much as possible to see if you can find them. To me, that added to the fun, and I didn't feel like the book was doing *all* of the work for me. For instance, the book doesn't mention that, if you can find Gollum, you can get a little treat from him!

I highly recommend this game guide; in fact, I'm off to the bookstore today to pick up Prima's game guide to another LOTR game!

The book exceeded all my expectations as a comprehensive discourse on Flip Chip technologies. It is extremely difficult to write a book that caters equally well to students and professionals alike, but the author seems to have succeeded in the task. For professionals in the field of electronic packaging, the book is an invaluable and comprehensive resource whether to refer a quick topic, or to study a concept in detail. It is also very up-to-date, complete with current international papers. For students, the fluid style makes good reading and the important concepts are explained thoroughly. Finally, the informations are very useful, and sometimes even lead to contemporary research issues.

As someone who was in the industry, and currently working at the University of Oxford - I can say that the book works great for both. Altogether, an excellent and timely book for electronic packaging people!

It is my pleasure to see our friend, John Lau, having another book (this is John's 12th book) published in the area of electronic packaging. The flip chip technology was developed more than 3 decades ago. However, due to the cost and reliability issues, flip chips were not yet widely adopted in the packaging industry. With the recent development of underfills and low-cost substartes, the aforementioned issues have been substantially improved. The present book appears just in time to promte the flip chip technologies to the packaging industry once again.

The 16 chapters in this book cover a wide spectrum of flip chip technologies. Following the introductions in Chapters 1 and 2, it is a pleasure to find a full chapter focused on lead-free solders. This is an emerging area in electronic packaging and should deserve special attention. Chapter 4 is another important subject in this book. Without high-density PCBs and substrates, the applications of flip chips would become very difficult. Chapter 5 introduces flip chips with conductive adhesives. This is mainly for chip-on-glass (COG) applications. The next three chapters provide abundant information regarding underfill encapsulation. In particular, the analyses and discussion for imperfect underfills are rather unique. After a brief chapter on the thermal management of flip chip on board, a comprehensive coverage on wafer-level packaging is provided. This is another highlight in this book. Several wafer-level chip scale packages (WLCSP) are introduced and the technlogy of wafer-level metallization and redistribution is discussed in depth. Chapters 11 and 12 concern two special topics: via-in-pad (VIP) and Direct Rambus (RIMM), respectively. The provided information is rather new. The next three chapters are focused on three forms of plastic ball grid array (PBGA) packages. Although two of them use wire bonding as the chip-level interconnect, they serve as good references for the comparison with solder-bumped flip chip PBGA packages. The last chapter of this book gives plenty of experimental results from failure analysis. This information is very helpful for understanding the failure mechanism of flip chip assemblies.

In summary, the present monograph is a very good reference book on low-cost flip chip technologies. The information is unique and up-to-date. I enjoy this book a lot and find it very helpful to my research work. It is a great value to the packaging engineers and researchers!

As the electronics industry is being driven by market demand to produce multi-functional, high-performance, miniature, and light-weight products, flip chip technology has been identified a key enabler, as well as a core technology for future electronics products. Although there have been numerous studies on this subject, they are scattered in different sources of literature and thus make it difficult for any one who would like to obtain a general, systematic, and comprehensive understanding of this technology.

This book comes just in time to fulfill the need and, in my opinion, is a best-in-class in the area of flip chip technologies for organic boards. Its 16 chapters cover a full spectrum from theory to application and provide scientists and engineers with an excellent, most up-to-date reference in flip chip technologies.

The book discusses major applications of flip chip technologies in direct chip attachment, wafer level CSP and plastic BGA, together with numerous examples of packages either being widely used in industries or emerging as a trend in the future. Each technology is discussed in detail from various aspects, such as design, PCB requirements, manufacturing, material, thermal management, failure analysis, and reliability, along with comprehensive references of literature. In fact, most of them represent previous work done by the author, who is not only a leading expert in electronic packaging industry but an active author of more than 10 books in the area of electronic packaging.

I found this book extremely useful to my research in electronic packaging technologies and thus highly recommend to whomever might need to understand and apply this technology to their work or studies.

Yi-Hsin Pao, Ph.D. Manager, Materials Engineering Dept. Visteon Automotive Systems Ford Motor Company

I found this book an excellent one for engineers in research and development department, such as the packaging R/D team I am associated with. For an R/D engineer, this is a perfect reference book to get a brief idea about relevant technologies in every aspect of flip chip packages and the advantage/drawback of one technology over others. This is important as for most of the development teams wafer level packages and flip chip technologies are still under development or in the trial run stage. Further, as cost is always the primary concern for essentially all the packages, including, of course, flip chip packages, this book does offer a lot of kits and alternatives for R/D engineers to choose which material and process technology should be the most suitable for them to develop. This book also offers many types of new flip chip and wafer level packages, along with abundant up-to-date references in each chapters, that can stimulate a good engineer and trigger new ideas for either new improvement or inventing new packages for their specific applications.

On the other hand, it is also a very suitable reference book for a packaging class in the graduate school level. For students with material or chemistry/chemical engineering background, they can very much understand two-thirds of the contents. As to students with mechanical or electrical engineering background, with instructor's guidance, they can also grasp this part of knowledge with reasonable effort. For the rest one-third of contents that involves the use of the theory of fracture mechanics and finite element methods, most students should also be able to understand the spirit without much difficulty through the instructor's explanation.

Enboa Wu, Director for Electronic Packaging Technology Division, ERSO/ITRI, Taiwan; and Professor of Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University.

I bought this book at NEPCON West on February 29 and read it on my way home to Boston. I like it very much!

This book covers all the important subjects (many of those I am not aware of) on low-cost flip chip Technologies. Also, for each subject, useful data, technical know-how, and engineering analyses are presented.

I strongly recommend it to everyone who is working in electronic packaging and interconnetions. I am sure you will find it useful!

Last 2 months I read 20 books about e-marketing issues and this book is the most structured and easy to read book i have ever read. They give visual examples and this makes the understanding more easy... If you want to please your customers please yourself with this book...

I am a final student who major in Marketing in City University of Hong Kong. I have got a lot of learning insight from this book. This book give me an overview of different types of loyalty and how it can uses in the e-commerce. This book is divide into three parts. The introduction of eCRM, the eCRM customer loyalty business process and the eCRM customer loyalty infrastructure. Actually, I agree very much that loyalty is very important especially for e-business to encourage customer to repeat purchase. This book also give many technical support to those who want to build an e-business to their business. This book gives me a lot and I hope you also can find something insides it such as me!

"Loyalty Marketing for the Internet Age offers managers a variety of ways to secure loyal customers and customer retention strategies. I found the end of the success stories, checklists and case examples extremely helpful.

As an Internet consultant specializing in the field of eCRM, I've had to stay ahead of my clients by reading the latest, greatest books on the subject. This one stands out. It includes financial models to help you monetize the benefits of customer loyalty, extremely helpful "action plans" after each section and up to date case studies. This is a must read for anyone trying to sell, plan and execute an eCRM initiative.

Formulating a Loyalty Marketing strategy can be a challenge-further implementing your strategy can be a much greater challenge. Kathleen, has established a clear approach to blending strategy with implementation which is practical and useful. Executives who are struggling to identify which book is a blueprint toward 'Attracting,Serving, and Retaining Customers' have in my view one of the key books which is not fluffy and gets right to the heart of it.

Specifically- she has enlightened me to identify that not all loyalty is the same, and as a marketer-you must understand that different customers are loyal for different reasons and under different conditions.

One only needs to see my personal copy of this book to know that it has been poured over...covered in notes, highlights, stickynotes and folds- a true sign of a great book. (In my view)

A wonderful eye-opener for any blind patriot who believes everything on TV and movies, and takes it all at face value. This book points out the hidden agenda of mass, corporate-owned media...

Parenti's critical review of the Rambo movies really made an impression on me. I used to like the Rambo movies, but now watch them mainly for laughs. Each subsequent Rambo release is, as Parenti describes it, worse than its predecessor. There was talk of reviving the Rambo character now that the U.S. is at war against terrorism. Let's hope it doesn't happen.

I'm not sure if working people are portrayed as negatively as Parenti has described it. If we only take Archie Bunker as an example, then yes, but filmmakers love to advance the theme of the powerless versus the powerful, because the opposite doesn't go well with audiences. Perhaps Parenti knows something I don't on this issue.

Parenti's favorable ratings of two films - JFK and Salvador - made me want to see them - over ten years after they had been released. I managed to see JFK, and it was great. I am still looking to see Salvador.

What I would like to see is an updated version of this book, since there has been more Hollywood propaganda released since the original version came out.

To hear newscasters avoid talk about class in America, you'd think the concept is as obsolete as the Soviet Union.Yet Michael Parenti continues to insist that class bias not only spreads out from the heart of society, but shapes it. Here he looks at TV's entertainment role in preserving social privilege. From popular stereotypes such as the Lone Ranger and his third-world flunky Tonto, to the invisible world of labor, to the well-meaning but misunderstood plutocrat, Parenti exposes capitalism's self-serving myths as portrayed on the little screen. Sure it's fun to kick around TV and a lot of people do it, but Parenti does it in a highly informative way that confronts our last remaining taboo - the role of wealth and power in American life.

Maybe the best chapter concerns profits and censorship. It's no news to point out that the networks and advertisers are in it for the money. But it is news to point out those instances when producers actually forego profits for the sake of respectability. Parenti details instances when industry has eaten losses rather than jeopardise the system of wealth and power it serves. For example, Procter & Gamble, TV's biggest advertiser, makes this allegiance clear by banning all content critical of Wall Street and the Pentagon from scripts it sponsors. In fact, most scripts - as Parenti shows - go through not 1, but 4 levels of censorship. No wonder, the public walks around in an ideological haze wondering why the world hates us -- and so much for the dollar sign's being more important than the system of which it is a part.

Another telling chapter concerns one of entertainment's most popular myths: "We only give 'em (the audience) what they want." Sounds good. But, as Parenti documents, despite this appeal to democratic ideals, the entertainment marketplace is anything but democratic. He sketches out control points or nerve centers that reduce real choice to pseudo choice, sort of like a multiple choice question whose options are narrowed to a desired range of outcome. All this is made sorrier by indications that American audiences respond to forbidden topics on those rare occasions when they seep through.

No book that debunks the FBI's screen role in the civil rights movement, or points out the class conditioning behind TV's version of Treasure Island, can afford to be overlooked. Whatever the book lacks in depth is more than made up for in focus. Despite his unperson status, Parenti remains a key figure among dissident academics banished to the book-selling fringes. Recommended to all those who understand TV viewing as anything but a passive pastime.

Propaganda is basically found in every modern society, so it should come as no surprise to find it in a movie like "Red Dawn," which Parenti refers to. He brings up such interesting facts as that all the TV networks have a department devoted to censorship, such as CBS's euphemistically named "Standards and Practices Department"; that companies like Procter & Gamble often have inordinate veto power over broadcast content considered subversive; and that PBS, which is actually anything but a "public" organization, has been dubbed the "Petroleum Broadcast Service" due to the large influence of the oil companies that help fund it. He who pays the piper..., you might say. I highly recommend this book.

Parenti does an excellent job in exposing how lopsided the entertaiment industry is, and how Right it is centered. He looks at aspects as diverse as Oscar winning movies to WWF wrestling, and how politically oriented they are, more often then not the Right. The Cold War did a number on American movies and it tainted the industry to this day in producing mediocre films that did not threaten or offend anyone high in power. I feel that today the situation is improved just a little bit, with more accurate portrayels of minorities and women and so forth, but we still have a long way to go in the entertainment industry. An excellent book for anyone at all interested in the entertainment industry and an eye opener as well.