Arthur Books

Having used Linux since 1995, my biggest struggle has been in finding reliable sources of information. This book is such a source and and all around excellent Linux guide.

I run Slackware and Debian so I wasx hesitant that I saw Red Hat, SuSE, and Caldera featured, but that didnt matter. An non-distributipon-specific, clearly written explanation is given and then they take small detours into each of those distributions, pointing out specifics to those (usually under X).

I began this book in chapter 8, User Administration and continued through. I am self-taught which has it's own merits, yet tends to leave holes in my "home-grown Linux Education". This book filled in the gaps and have made me an much more competent Linux user/administrator.

I can not write as a new Linux user so I can not honestly say how this book would be for some one totally new to Linux (although my guess is that it wouldn't be a bad choice to start off with!)

When in the company of other Linux users, I find they talk about things without explaining what they are, where they are found, what they do, or what other options may exist. Those are the kinds of holes I had in my Linux education. Now, init, X configuration, mysterious configuration files, and many advanced topics that I had desperately been trying to understand and piece together, are all much clearer to me now thanks to this excellent book.

In summary, this book has helped this Linux user to sort out and relate the commands and configuration that once "kept me in the dark".

I finally became so frustrated with the Crash-A-Lot software from Redmond (some of us actually have work that needs to get done, OK, Bill?) that I decided to give Linux a try. I bought a copy of Mandrake and after some fiddling got it installed on an old laptop. The problem was, I really didn't know what I was doing. It ran even more slowly than Bill's stuff (although it didn't die of embarrassment and crash every time I looked at it funny). I knew there had to be ways to make it run better, but I was clueless about how to go about it. The stuff that came with the disk was almost useless, and the books in the stores seemed to either be written for somebody who ought to be getting juice and cookies before nap time or for major software gurus. Then I discovered this book. It explains how Linux works, how to set it up, and how to make it work better. HE ACTUALLY EXPLAINS HOW LINUX WORKS! Here and there I had to go elsewhere to look up a few terms and some stuff he assumes his readers knew (how to get into BIOS, on my ancient Thinkpad you hit F2 as soon as it starts up), but for the most part it's all there. I recommend reading this thing all the way through, even the chapters about stuff you don't think you will need, before you try anything because his approach is to talk about something like partitioning a hard drive and then a few chapters later approach it from a different angle and add some more useful information. If you want to hit a topic all at once, there is an excellent index. I'm going to give Debian or Slackware a shot and between the online documentation at their sites and this book I think I can handle it. I know some of you guys hate to ask for directions, but save yourselves a lot of trouble and read this book.

This is a great book for the Linux beginner looking to take the next step. Most of the beginner books I've seen and bought, come with a distribution. The first half of the book descibes the installation of the software and the second half is too generic to be really insightful. The advanced books are just a little too technical for my needs. That's where a book like this really fits in. It's written in plain English that's easy to understand and a pleasure to read. There's a lot of information that's useful for any Linux distribution. And, a few examples that are distribution dependant. (Red Hat, SuSE and Caldera) This book has helped me gain a better understanding of the set-up and use of my Linux system.

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The other reviewers have just about said it all: in short, this is a GREAT book!
I would just like to add that it is good to have ONE book that over ALL the essentials of Linux as compared to those who cover just PARTS in one book and more PARTS in another (just to sell more books?).
I own MANY books on Linux, but if I were forced to discard them all but ONE, THIS is the one I would definitely KEEP! When you have the BEST, why mess with the REST? :o)

Lloyd W. Cary
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One of the greatest of the series, this book unusually partners the Ds and the Amazons, with the Swallows not arriving until the day after the last page. As usual Nancy and Peggy are in dire straits, this time thanks to a surprise visit from the dreaded Great Aunt. With their guests, Dick and Dorothea just arrived, they are forced to take extreme measures to keep life on, what they consider, an even keel. Dragged into their web of deception are a myriad of ýNativesý including the doctor, Squashy Hat, Cook and the postman. As usual, there is continual suspense and excitement and once again we are transported to a better world and left the better for it.

It's another fun holiday with the Amazon Pirates, Nancy and Peggy, until their Great Aunt discovers that Mother is away, and they have no one to look after them! Nancy and Peggy know they must hide visitors Dick and Dot, but where? Of course! In an old abandoned hut in the woods! They will be "Picts" while the suffering Amazons will be "martyrs." Will the G. A. find out? Will the doctor give away the secret? Will Dick be able to help Timothy with his experiments? Will the amazons be stuck in frilly frocks for the rest of the summer?

Sail with Dick and Dot on their new boat--the Scarab--in this funniest of Arthur Ransome adventures through the Lake District.

Very few things scare Amazon Pirate First Mate Peggie Blackett -- mostly thunder, but also the Great Aunt.

The only thing that scares Amazon Pirate Captain Nancy Blackett (well, "Ruth", properly, but Amazon Pirates are ruthless) is the Great Aunt.

Great Aunt Maria Turner, who raised Nancy & Peggie's widowed Mother and their Uncle Jim, is a formidable maiden lady of firm opinion, unbending will and repressive manner. "Having fun" is not on her list of summer tasks that well-brought-up children need to perform during the Summer Holidays. And dressing in comfortable shorts, knit shirts and red stocking caps is hardly suitable for Young Ladies in their early teens.

Not that this is particularly worrisome in the normal frame of things, because she lives Far Away.

But somehow Aunt Maria gets word that Ruth and Margaret are to be alone for a goodly part of the Summer Holidays as Uncle Jim (Captain Flint) takes their mother on a cruise for her health... and decides to visit Beckfoot for most of that period and make sure that Nancy and Peggie don't get into trouble.

Not that this, even so, would be worse than Unpleasant... except that their friends, Dick & Dorothea Callum ("the D's") are to be staying at Beckfoot... and it's a sure bet that the Great Aunt would visit a devastating scold on their Mother if she found out that they were having other guests their own age to stay, to be supervised only by Cook.

And so, quicker than you can say "Are you sure this isn't a Bad Idea?" Dick and Dorothea, city kids with limited experience at camping and fending for themselves, wind up ensconced for the length of the GA's visit in "the Dog's Home" -- a one-room stone forester's hut in the woods up above the lake.

And, since a number of people know that they're supposed to be at Beckfoot, and don't know it's a secret, and because Dick is supposed to be working with Captain Flint's friend on Captain FLint's houseboat on some chemical analysis of samples from a mine they discovered in the previous book and because Murphy's Law applies to everything in life, from there the story becomes more and more complex and full of hair's-breadth escapes and humourous adventures and close calls (the burglary at Beckfoot being particularly fun).

In the end, of course, all is (relatively) well, the GA gone, the D's have their own boat to race with "Swallow" and "Amazon" and the Swallows are due to arrive any day and most of the Summer still stretches ahead.

Like all the rest of the series, humourous adventure fiction for the YA age group. (And perhaps a bit younger; since they were mostly written for British juvenile audiences, and sixty to seventy years ago to boot, the "Swallows & Amazons" books may contain references and language that today's younger readers may have some problems with. OTOH, i first read "Swallows & Amazons" [the first book] at age eight or nine and i had no problem with it.)

Which is not to say that adults can't enjoy them -- many do. Buy them for a son, daughter, nephew or niece and give them a try before you pass them on; Ransome has a huge adult readership worldwide, even today.

This is a typically terrific Arthur Ransome book. Who on earth listed it for babies and toddlers hasn't read any of Arthur Ransome's works let alone this one.

This whole series is great for reading aloud to children 7 or 8 and up.

I would have known nothing about this book had Tony Mitton and Mary GrandPre not come to the school where I teach and given a fabulous presentation. Tony shared many of the wonderful, imaginative poems he had written - performing some of them with an incredible amount of flair and pride. Mary showed off her gorgeous, colorful and magnificent illustrations, which serve as a marvelous complement to the words Tony has written. The poems and illustrations will delight children of all ages and will bring a smile to the face of any adult, as well.

My first grade student love to hear me read the poems in this book and then show them the amazing art work. This book is almost always chosen by someone during free read time. My favorite is the poem about how to grow poems in your mind.

Tony Mitton's Plum provides a host of warm and original poems for kids, with plenty of cultural zany fun underlying them. From Mrs. Bhattacharya's Chapati Zap Machine to a giant feline flea, this is loaded with fun. Fold-out pages may not lend to rigorous library lending but parents will want this for their kids.

Plum, written by Tony Mitton and illustrated by Mary Grandpre, is a conjures confection of whimsy and pure delight. Not since Where the Sidewalk Ends has there been such an extraordinary book of poetry written for children. The combination of Tony Mitton's words and Mary Grandpre's illustrations are most enchanting. Their work in Plum has a real chemistry. Together they've created a book which truly becomes it's own universe for the reader. The poems run the gauntlet from mysterious and scary to silly and sad. I especially loved two of the poems in particular. One about a giant. The other about the legendary figure of English folklore, the Green Man. Plum is a delicious way to introduce children to poetry.

Preston McClear...

This book, which almost no one else has ever heard of, is a lot of fun. A great pirate story. The only distracting thing is that all curse words are deleted in favor of blank spaces. That really _____________ ______________, man!

Avast mates! Never has a finer tale of the sea to be had. Meet Long John, Captain Flint, Ben Gunn, and some of the other scurvy crew from 'Treasure Island'. Learn where the treasure came from. Fights at sea and ashore aplenty.

Though the 1934 classic film version of Treasure Island makes reference to a character that appears only in this novel, not in RLS' original (proving that somebody involved in making the film had read it), Porto Bello Gold is almost forgotten today, which is a shame because it is a rousing adventure and a worthy prequel to the classic adventure.

RLS never told us much about the origins of the treasure, the implication being that it was accumulated from many raids over some considerable period of time. It was A. D. Howden Smith's inspiration to have it all come from the taking of a single treasure galleon, carrying the yearly mining production back to Spain, and that the portion hidden on Treasure Island was considerably less than half the total.

Young Robert Ormerod's life just got a lot more complicated. Pirates are attacking just off New York harbor, he's just met a fascinating Irish lassie, Moira O'Donnell, and the great uncle he never knew about, Andrew Murray, a notorious Jacobite and pirate in partnership with Flint, has made him an offer he can't refuse: assist him in his latest scheme willingly or over his father's dead body. Accompanied by his father's friend, Peter Corlaer, a giant of a Dutchman who insists on being taken prisoner as well, an unwilling Robert plays his part in Murray's grand scheme: to take the Porto Bello treasure galleon and use most of the swag to finance another Jacobite conspiracy.

As in Treasure Island the key relationship is between a naive young boy and a Machiavellian old man whose true intentions are difficult to read. Though Murray forcibly uses his grand nephew, he is also trying in his own way to provide him with a glorious future, whether Robert wants it or not. Also present are the younger versions of the RLS characters we know so well: Long John Silver, a Machiavellian not quite the equal of Murray who practices his famous charms on Robert, Billy Bones, Blind Pew, Black Dog, Ben Gunn, etc. In addition we get Smith's vision of Captain Flint (a roaring monster) and even Darby McGraw of "Fetch aft the rum!" fame.

As you might have guessed, Murray's scheme doesn't go quite as he expected. Soon Robert, Peter, and Moira are attempting to stay alive amidst a maelstrom of conflicting conspiracies, and although events are considerably constrained by the plot of Treasure Island, there's still room for plenty of twists and surprises. In fact the ending fairly demands another sequel, a sequel that Roger L. Johnson delivered 77 years later in Dead Man's Chest : The Sequel to Treasure Island.

Arthur D. Howden Smith is not well remembered but his books are all fine pieces of writing. I approached Porto Bello Gold with some doubts even so but he handles Stevenson's characters so well and with such flair that I was seduced into loving the book. This is a worthy part of the Treasure Island saga and a wonderful read for anyone who appreciates rousing adventure stories, pirates, and buried treasure.

In my opinion, this is the best book I have come acrorss in terms of "PRINCIPLES" The book focuses on general principles, not specific therapeutic areas. Topics covered range from drug discovery and development to individualization and quality assessment of drug therapy. This is an excellent resource for those in post-graduate Clinical Pharmacology training or who are working in this area. Readers will,
however, need a basic knowledge of pharmacology as this book is not suitable as the first and only Clinical Pharmacology textbook for medical or undergraduate students.

In my opinion, this is the best book I have come acrorss in terms of "PRINCIPLES" The book focuses on general principles, not specific therapeutic areas. Topics covered range from drug discovery and development to individualization and quality assessment of drug therapy. This is an excellent resource for those in post-graduate Clinical Pharmacology training or who are working in this area. Readers will,
however, need a basic knowledge of pharmacology as this book is not suitable as the first and only Clinical Pharmacology textbook for medical or undergraduate students.

I think this is the best book so far when it comes to "PRINCIPLES". The book focused on general principles, not any particular therapeutic areas. It covers from drug discovery and development to individualization and quality assessment of drug therapy. Excellent resource for people in post-graduate Clinical Pharmacology training or working in this area. However, readers will need basic knowledge of pharmacology from other sources. This is not suitable to be the first and only Clinical Pharmacology textbook for medical students or undergraduate students.

In my opinion, this is the best book on general principles without going into detail on specific therapeutic areas. I would consider it a must-read for those in clinical pharmacology post-graduate training or those working in clin pharm. However, previous knowledge of pharmacology is needed, as this book is not suitable as a first primer for medical and undergrad students.

Dear Doctor,
I wish you could read this. I am your loving student Hammood. Currently I am out of Syria but I wish I could get a copy of this book. Please write to me.

Dear Huda,

I liked your way of expressing your ideas. I may be the only one who had the chance to see you recently and talk to you about your life, history, your dreams, aspirations and first of all Marc Kennedy. I was lucky to sit with you and have a croissant at Al Dimashki in Damascus. I wish you all luck in your future endevours and I hope that your next book " A Flower in the Cold" will be your step towards success.

Dear Huda,

I liked your way of expressing your ideas. I may be the only one who had the chance to see you recently and talk to you about your life, history, your dreams, aspirations and first of all Marc Kennedy. I was lucky to sit with you and have a croissant at Al Dimashki in Damascus. I wish you all luck in your future endevours and I hope that your next book " A Flower in the Cold" will be your step towards success.

Dear Huda,

I liked your way of expressing your ideas. I may be the only one who had the chance to see you recently and talk to you about your life, history, your dreams, aspirations and first of all Marc Kennedy. I was lucky to sit with you and have a croissant at Al Dimashki in Damascus. I wish you all luck in your future endevours and I hope that your next book " A Flower in the Cold" will be your step towards success.

Prostate cancer involves clusters of cells which grow out of control. Biopsies measure the incidence of cancer with minimum risk. Standard therapies are radiation, hormonal and cryosurgery.
As we get older, less testosterone is produced. The reduced
testosterone levels may cause the prostrate to shrink in mass.
Cryosurgery freezes tissue. The current state of prostate surgery
art is on "afud", "prostatecancerfoundation" and "urologyhealth"
coms. This work would be invaluable if you have prostrate problems and it will be necessary to choose an optimal treatment modality.
This volume is well worth the price charged for the information content alone. It is well-researched and the sources are authoritative.

This is an excellent, easy-to-read book that covers all therapies, but it's great contribution is the superb coverage of cryotherapy for prostate cancer, one of the specialties for which co-author Gary Onik, MD is well-known. Though this book will be a fine resource for orienting many patients, I see it as a "must read" book for someone seriously considering cryosurgery. The book covers other therapies in an overview fashion, providing major details; that's an advantage for the new patient as it limits confusion and facilitates rough comparison of therapies, but some patients will probably want more information to narrow the therapy choice and will need other sources to fill-in important details. That's not a criticism, just a comment on the role of this book in educating patients. The book also contains fresh insights, even for those of us patients with a lot of hard-knocks knowledge of the disease. The co-authors have done an excellent of stressing empowerment of patients. Their presentation of therapies from the viewpoint of the patient helps achieve this objective.

The coverage of cryo ranges from advantages, disadvantages and limitations, details of the procedure, selection of a skilled cryo surgeon, promising results for this relatively new technology, side effects, ways of limiting recurrence, and excellent potential as a salvage technique. The book recommends the patient confirm with his doctor that certain techniques will be used, such as slow thawing and prevention of injury to the rectum by injection of saline solution in an intervening space. It notes that a special advantage over other therapies is that all types of prostate cancer cells respond, even aggressive cells (high Gleason scores). It also notes that follow-up data is still limited to about five to seven years, a disadvantage, though data at the outer boundary looks good.

A must read for any man over 40 regardless of whether or not he has prostate cancer. The clarity of information is matched only by the outstanding illustrations.
Clearly one of the most informative and understandable writings of our times. Compassionate in tone and sensative in presentation.

My urologist gave me this book he first told me I had cancer. It was good to leave his office with a resource in my hands because my wife and I obviously had a lot of questions. The book answered our questions and explained prostate cancer and its treatment options thoroughly but in an easy to understand way.
When I went back for my second visit after my diagnosis, my doctor and I discussed treatment options. He also answered some questions the book had brought to mind. Four months ago I had a nerve sparing radical prostatectomy, and I've been doing great since. I'd definitely recommend this book to other men with prostate cancer.

I have to admit, when I was given this book -- whose text is predominantly the word "quack" -- I was skeptical. It seemed a little like a cop-out to avoid writing clever dialog, but once I read it to my 14 month old daughter, I was sold. It immediately became her most requested book. At her age, repeating animal sounds is fun, and nothing is better than a book full of "quack." She can even read along! She's now almost 17 months and "Quack!" is still her favorite (although Dr. Suess runs a close second).

This is such a great book. My kids love it and my wife and I get a kick out of it as well. There is something quircky and witty about using sounds in the place of words, and when kids get it; it's really fun for them. My 2 year-old especially loves this book. He has now taken to substituing words in everyday speach with other animal sounds. Its pretty funny. Anyway, if you have a child, under the age of about 4 I would buy this book right now. Your kid(s) will love it!

Of all of our children's books, my one year old daughter enjoys it when I read this one to her the most. She laughs when I "quack, quack, quacked quack!" It's amazing, but I understand duck!

I'm a manager in a bookstore and I began a shift meeting by reading this book aloud to my booksellers: we range in age from 19-40 and we all laughed and were charmed by this very original book. It's tooooo funny! We'll be using this for a storytime and I just know that the kids will fall in love too. Quack is a duck who longs to quack to the moon. But he soon discovers that such adventuring is not all it's "quacked" up to be. The funniest, but saddest and most touching part is when he's on the moon all alone: "Quack quacked, and quacked..." meaning that Quack the duck cried and cried for loneliness. That part may not sound particularly funny, but an expressive reader makes all the difference at a storytime. It can really be a hoot--oops! Sorry! I mean a QUACK! :) I highly recommend this book.

I've read the statistical signal processing and stochastic processes books by Kay, Papoulis, Srinath and Stark & Woods, and this is by far the best book that covers both subject areas in a logical fashion. The text is very clearly written, mathematical notation is easy to follow, and example problems are very worthwhile. I'm currently a PhD student using this book to prepare for my qualification exams, and it's really helping me master the difficult subject of estimation and detection theory.

Though the book does not get much into measure spaces and some of the abstract theoretical fundamentals, it's an excellent engineering reference that's ideal for an introductory class in the subject. My only complaint is that the book is not hardcover.

I agree with the other reviews that this is one of the best books for studying random processes, especially in the context of DSP. I used the book in a graduate level "statistical signal processing" course at the University of London and I found it extremely useful.
It covers everything from the definition of a sample space, AR and MA processes, periodograms to optimal Wiener filter theory. The examples are very clear and they accompany each of the chapters. One point to notice is that you do need to know something about Fourier transforms and also have basic familiarity with probability.

Highly recommended to anyone in the DSP field.

The authors have unleashed the subject of Stochastic Processes using a carefully paced and proven approach of introducing the material using a number of elegant examples where emphasis is to generalize specific results. This quality text will certainly not dissapoint readers who have come to expect high quality from K. Sam Shanmugam and Authur .M.Breipohl .It can be recommended for first course and also for gaduate level courses on the fascinating and challenging subject of Random Processes

This is one of the best books around for studying Random Processes ! The author has also provided a very good introduction to Detection, Estimation and Modelling of Stochastic Processes. I found this book very useful and I'd strongly suggest this book for an introductionary level graduate course. If you want to build a strong foundation in Random Signal Theory, this book is the way to go.. Other advanced texts like Simon Haykin's "Adaptive Filter Theory" will be a lot easier to understand once you study this book thoroughly and work out the exercise problems.

This is simply an outstanding book! Dr Ricketts brings unusual clarity of thought and writing style to this discussion of TOC concepts and the services business. I have read many TOC books. This is easily one of the top books in field.

Beginning with an excellent review of TOC concepts, Dr. Ricketts transports you to the services business. There, he surfaces the issues and challenges found in services environments and how TOC provides solutions. He displays a deep understanding of the many dimensions of services. One could buy this book for its educational value on services alone and not be disappointed. His presentation reflects both deep knowledge of services and clear understanding of how TOC can make it better.

Dr. Ricketts also provides excellent discussions of strategy development, change, and the elements of resistance to change. Then, there are other highlights too numerous to mention here. Rich in examples and illustrations, it was truly a pleasure to read this exceptional work!

REACHING THE GOAL: HOW MANAGERS IMPROVE A SERVICES BUSINESS USING GOLDRATT'S THEORY OF CONSTRAINTS explains not only the basics of TOC, but how it improves business performance, using experiences from IBM research to document using TOC in services businesses. From its basic principles to applications in different areas of business, TOC is thoroughly covered including guidelines on how to implement in an existing organizational structure, making this a fine pick for both college-level business libraries and libraries catering to managers.

Thanks very much to John Ricketts for thoroughly accomplishing a very difficult task - mapping Goldratt's Theory of Constraints to a wide variety of services businesses. Goldratt's work has had its widest appication to the manufacturing world, but those of us in the services business have been speculating for years on how to apply the same concepts to the services business. Ricketts has done an admirable job in surveying the various services business models and showing how TOC can be applied to these businesses as well. As a trained TOC consultant, this now gives me a new set of openings for how to assist my services clients in attacking their critical constraints to improve their business results.

One relatively minor request - perhaps for a subsequent edition Ricketts will be able to include more real-life examples of how TOC has actually benefited various service organizations. While the little vignettes Ricketts includes in this work are helpful in exploring the potential application of TOC concepts to real world business problems, the work would have been even more compelling with some actual examples of their application. I guess we have all become so used to Goldratt's excellent use of the novel form in explaining the applications of TOC that we now expect this as a matter of course!

But overall, this is an excellent work which does a masterful job articulating the various applications of TOC to services - and I sincerely appreciate Ricketts' efforts to clarify this very important topic!

TOC has an outstanding record in manufacturing and here Rickett's has cleverly adopted the TOC applications and thinking to suit service industries. I know TOC well, I work in the services industry, and I've learned a lot from reading it. It is not (imho) an easy book for TOC newbies. I'd have liked a few more concrete examples - my mind works that way, and I hope John will add those in the 2nd edition. It's a very good book - I suspect in a year or so once the ideas have sunk in and I've tried them - that I'll be describing it as a classic.