Butler Books

This book walks through practical examples of various neural network designs and their relationships among eachother.

The book is a very inspiring introduction to artificial neural computing. It explains the intutive motivation behind the design of almost all major artificial neural models. It explains insight in simple english. This book along with a mathematical rigourous book can provide a very good understanding on the modern neural network research.

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, this book chose the thousand-word route in most cases. Neural nets are ideal candidates for illustrations. So, why they decided to use endless descriptions is beyond me. It is like giving directions over the phone when a map would get to the point much faster.

It also needed to explain more conceptually how neural nets actually work, not just how they are arranged. Examples where the net matches one-to-one with an actual image or pattern are easy to follow, but how they recognize different variations of patterns (variety) I never got a good feel for from this book. However, the description of an Adeline node was pretty good.

Professor Rosenthal has done a superb job of evoking the persona of the man who built Columbia, using his 44-year tenure as university president. The author has even succeeded in evoking the reader's sympathies for Butler, a powerful leader who, viewed in today's lights, was an autocratic megalomaniac who missed many opportunities to build an even greater educational institution on Morningside Heights.

This biography will be of great interest to anyone who spent time at Columbia (or its sister institutions) during the 20th century -- the years during which Butler's influence was at its zenith. It provides, perhaps for the first time, a background for some of the University's admirable traditions, balanced, wisely, by a few rather embarassing episodes in its history.

Well written, but of interest mostly to those who went to Columbia while he was president.

Nicholas Miraculous: the Amazing Career of the Redoubtable Dr. Nicholas Michael Rosenthal's biography of Nicholas Murray Butler was fascinating reading for me because of Butler's position as my father's boss and major influence on the social, political and academic world in which he lived during the 1930's and early 1940's (my formative years). It was a world of clubby collegiality for those on the inside, formal social affairs, conservative politics, anti-Semitism, and class and cultural snobbery. Attitudes towards Franco's Spain, Mussolini's Fascism and Hitler's Nazis ranged from admiration to toleration - at least up to the time of the invasion of Poland in 1939. The issue of Negroes on the faculty or in the student body was so far from Butler's concern or concept of the way things should be that it is not even mentioned in his biography. Faculty members were free to exercise academic freedom so long as they did not publicly challenge any of the basic principles of the world of Butler and his colleagues. Those who did, were dismissed or passed over for promotion.
My father often complained about the internal politics he had to deal with at Columbia and I had assumed that this was a problem endemic to all academic institutions, but after reading this book I get the impression that it was worse at Columbia than other places because of the personality and policies of Butler himself who was not a very good administrator.

Outlaws are of special interest to a certain segment of society. This book has even an extremely limited appeal to those of us that pay attention to such editions in hopes of finding new geneological material.

I found this to be a useful and rewarding resource for the genealogical information that it did provide.

This book, by the late Ken Butler, discusses some otherwise unknown outlaws of the western part of Oklahoma. Several people may never have heard of Hookie Miller and Alf Hunter. But Mr. Butler has done a heck of a job bringing out these characters deeds and misdeeds. This is Butler's first and last publication in book form and he will be greatly missed. I would recommend anyone wishing to get a look at another group of bandits from the western days of old Oklahoma to buy this one.

Mike Koch, author of "The Kimes Gang."

Thirty years or so ago, I wandered into a pharmacy in Peabody, Massachusets during a lunch break from a new job. I picked up Full Moon by Wodehouse for a dollar and began reading. That was one of those small turning points in life which can change and enrich all that comes afterwards.

According to the Wodehouse website, "Plum" has written 99 books. That is about 2 to read per year for your adult life. They can come to resemble each other so closely that after 50 or so, you begin to suspect that you have already read the one you are about to finish sometime 5 or 10 years earlier. But it doesn't matter. What is important is the immersion into the world of Wodehouse characterized by quiet contentment, eccentric but likeable people, harmless foils and genuinely absurd twists of plot. Above all is the Wodehouse use of language. No one writes or ever will write humorous dialogue better. I don't ordinarily read books of humor because, due to a likely but undetectable character defect, I do not find them funny. (The reviewer on the back cover describes knee-slapping hilarity. I work to muster a smile.) But I find the best of Wodehouse universally funny and the worst of Wodehouse forgiveable and still worth the time.

Ring for Jeeves is missing Wooster but it is fun to see Jeeves as the straight man to someone else. The humor is often provided by the red faced Captain Biggar who can't quite make the transition from equatorial African safari to English country house. In this post Victorian world of England in decline but seemingly untouched by continental wars, the ninth Earl of Rowcester is trying to sell his crumbling castle to a rich American. The path to inevitable happiness is less than smooth.

If you have finished most of the Jeeves and Blandings books but have yet to wade into earlier Wodehouse efforts, pick up this book. Written in 1953 (his 74th effort) near the height of his powers, Ring for Jeeves is unlikely to disappoint.

Sometimes when you read a novel, you want a searing look at the human condition or a sprawling epic crossing generations. At other times, you want complete fluff, light entertainment that makes you feel good while offering little real substance. In this field of whimsical words, few can outshine P.G. Wodehouse, and rarely is Wodehouse better than when he writes of Bertie Wooster, the dim but well-meaning member of the idle rich, and his omniscient valet Jeeves.

Ring for Jeeves is the only Jeeves and Wooster story without Bertie (who is off getting an education in independence and is only referred to occasionally). Instead, Jeeves is temporarily attending to William Belfry, a poor member of the nobility who has landed himself in the soup. In an effort to raise funds to properly marry his fiancée Jill, he has adopted a second identity as a bookie; this works great until an erstwhile great white hunter Biggar wins a long shot; Bill welshes on the bet (intending to pay when he has the funds) and flees to his estate, Biggar in hot pursuit.

There is hope, however, with a beautiful, wealthy widow who wants to buy the estate and give Bill more than enough money. But with this hope comes complications. She is secretly in love with Biggar, who is in turn secretly in love with her; as he is also impoverished, he feels it wrong to marry her when it would be assumed he was after her money. She is also Bill's ex-lover, causing a potential rift with Jill. There are also complications regarding a diamond pendant and an upcoming horse race. In the middle of all this is Jeeves, the calm port in the storm of troubles, who offers various solutions, some of which are more effective than others.

This is in many ways an atypical novel, hampered by Bertie's absence. Told in the third person instead of with Bertie's usually delightful narration, something is lost. In addition, Jeeves is at his best when he is at his most all-knowing; here, he seems less brilliant than usual, although still clever enough. These problems are sufficient to reduce this to a four-star effort. This is still a good book, but not a good introduction to Wodehouse or the Jeeves & Wooster stories; I recommend reading others in the series first (such as Right Ho, Jeeves; Carry On, Jeeves or Thank You, Jeeves).

I concur with mrliteral (below) that this isn't top-tier Jeeves, due to his estrangement from Bertie in this tale. It's full of the typical Wodehousery and wordplay, and you're sure to enjoy, but it's not quite up to the heights of the very best. Another question: was this written as a theatre piece? With the exception of an opening at a pub, the entire narrative takes place at Bill's mansion, and frequently in one room. I imagine this may have been written for the stage and then retrofitted as a novel. No matter-- still much fun. As always, Wodehouse satisfies.

Although this book was written in 1975 and some material in the second half of the book is a bit dated, this book is foundational to understanding the complexities of aging in the United States. Dr. Butler does an excellent job of presenting the history of aging policies and their impact on our aging population. This book should be required reading for any serious student of gerontology and those who work with aging persons and aging policy.

Dr. Butler may be a physician, but this book does not read like a medical text book. It is full of useful statistics and details regarding social policy, psychology, sociology and even spirituality. Because of the depth and breadth of how Dr. Butler presents the issues that impact persons who are aging and their families and our society at large, this book is a goldmine of information. After reading this book, I came away with the thought "the more things change, the more things stay the same." Dr. Butler makes suggestions on how to improve life and living for our elders, some of these ideas still need to be implimented. I think it is one of the best books I've read in the field of gerontology from the standpoint of providing a foundational background in the field and historical content.

This book was written in 1975.In it Butler emphasizes the raw deal lots of elderly Americans were getting at the time. He speaks about Poverty and the inadequacy of Social Security, problems of work, of sickness, of social isolation in Old Age. He writes about discriminatory attitudes towards the elderly. He writes about misconceptions regarding infirmity and the great majority of the elderly. He addresses the way the elderly are stigmatized by the medical and psychiatric professions.
He is essentially an advocate, a very informed and sympathetic one for the elderly. The book opens with his relating the story of how he was raised by his grandparents and how their devotion kept him going as a young child.
It is thirty years since the book was written, and my guess is that there has been considerable improvement in certain areas of the lives of the elderly. I would guess that Poverty is not as prevalent as it was thirty years ago. I also believe that there has been an improvement in institutional care for the healthy. 'Ageism' which is a term Butler coined is of course still a reality, but there are also organizations and groups which defend the interests of the elderly.
Butler speaks wisely about maintaining health and interest in life in old age. His concluding remarks have to do with making our lives 'works of art'.
This is a fine book written by a very decent and skillful student of the problems of Aging in America.

I read this book because I have never read anything in this field. This book was published in the 1970s when conditions for elderly people were bad. High inflation was reducing the value of the nest eggs of many. Large lay-offs also meant that many older people could not depend on their children for financial support. As such, this book was important in that it addressed all issues, major and minor, that elderly people have to deal with in this country. These issues still exist, but I dare say the elderly population are the most privileged class in this country this decade. The last 3 years have seen reduced public funding for education, as taxes have been reduced, primarily on savings, sales of securities, and property. Programs to help the future (children) are being cut to fund tax cuts for the middle-aged and elderly portions of America.

Yes health costs are going up, but if one looks at medicine over the decade, one notices that most of the advances have been in treating adult and elderly diseases like Alzheimers, cancer, Parkinson's, and heart disease. Almost no advances are being made in treating diseases of young people. Most importantly, inflation over the last decade has been extremely low, which is great for people living on fixed incomes. This book is good reading, but the problems it highlights are ones that every individual has a lifetime to prepare for.

The author did a good job of presenting the subject brilliantly so that experienced CLASSIC ASP developers can get a quick introduction to ASP.NET in a few days. It started by taking you through database design and slowly takes you into ASP.NET
THOUGH THE BOOK SAYS IN 15 HOURS, but I managet to finish in 20 hours. Sometimes it may seem the information is too much, but after reading the book, I suggest you go over it again and all will be clearer and much more fun. I recommend it to all CLASSIC ASP and visual basic programmers looking for a quick route to ASP.NET

First of all we are talking VB only, no C#. It is not a beginners book, sorry. Otherwise the book seems ok, haven't read it though!!!

The book assumes that You can finish the book in a couple of days which is completely ridiculous.
However I very much like the quiz questions at the end of each chapter although there are very few of them for each chapter. But then again the answers is given at the end of the book.
All in all I would say that this book definitely deserves 3 stars.

Certainly plenty in this book to keep the new comer to Asia fascinated and on their toes but very much written for the "expat" manager ie Westerner relocating to Asia as a new kid in town. Not so frequent nowadays where Asia produces plenty of highly skilled experienced local managers with international experience.
An entertaining and valuable read for those experienced in Asia as well as newcomers to this fascinating region.

This book is rich source of insights and perspectives for anyone with a business interest in ASIA.
This book gathers every aspect of business related issues and offers case studies.
I highly recommend this book; especially as a tool for expatriate CEOs and Managers who are working or have plans to work in ASIA.

"Conspiracy of Silence"; UFO's in Ireland; by Dermot Butler and Carl Nally is the basic on-going format of most UFO literature on the market. The book is an accumulation of "thumb-nail" sketches of UFO reports throughout Ireland, some dating from the early 1940's but mostly more recent events. These "snippet-reports" are taken from UPRI (UFO Paranormal-Research Ireland), files and some newspaper accounts. While interesting, they leave the reader wishing for a bit more follow-up.

Apparently however, a collection of witness testimony did not start in Ireland until about 1970. These witness accounts were subsequently obtained from a few brave souls who initiated such pioneering organizations as the British UFO Research Association (Irish Section) (BUFORA), and the Irish UFO Research Center (IUFORC). Many of these organizations were similar to the United States organizations such as NICAP (National Committee on Aerial Phenomena), CUFOS (Center for UFO Studies), and MUFON (MutualUFO Network).

The Irish organizations were naturally smaller, and had less financial funding. None the less, their interest in the subject was no different or any less enthusiastic.

The authors liberally inject almost every known aspect and theory in UFO studies into this book. Some of these theories are directly tied into the cases at hand, others...ancillary information of interest. The authors mention possible affiliation between ancient Irish history (and lore), such as "Tara" and a native Irish race known only as the Tuatha de Danaan. However, they also give the reader a realistic glimpse of the UFO subject matter and it's recent impact upon the Catholic church and it's own perceptions of possible alien races, and how it might impact the Vatican.

The authors advise the reader that their reason in writing this book was simply to state that the phenomenon of UFO's (no matter the cause), are as real and active in Ireland as they are anywhere in the world. Many of the cases sited in this book parallel or, are almost identical to any number of those here in the United States.

The Irish have taken "a bad rap" ever since they claimed to have seen the Leprechaun. The enigma of the UFO is the modern day equivalent of the Leprechaun to the Irish (Military and Civilian alike); so...is it any wonder a "Conspiracy of Silence" (Celtic Omerta) remains prevalent today?

Thomas L. Friedman, author of: "The World is Flat" basically stipulated that, despite cultural differences, and geographical locations; the Internet, International banking, and business have made the world we live in ..."Flat." (globalized and more connected).

The subject and simularities of UFO incidents, witnesses, investigators, and on-going global events have in a sense..."flattened" (connected/globalized)the "Modus Operandi" of the UFO.

The book (3 1/2 stars) was a fair over-all synopsis of events in Ireland. It is evident ( without a doubt), that Carl Nally and Dermot Butler are well versed in the history, psychology, mystical, theoretical, symbolic, and religious aspects of the UFO. I believe it would be beneficial for them (authors), to consider a more in-depth work of one, or two specific cases noted in their book (ie: UFO Entity 1in 1945 p30., or ...AER Lingus Damaged by UFO p.41).

In my humble opinion, the authors true knowledge and astuteness of the subject is not accurately or totally represented in their book.

CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE - UFO'S IN IRELAND
REALLY THE BEST PARANORMAL BOOK I'VE READ SO FAR (AND I HAVE A LIBRARY FULL OF THEM)
INTERVIEWS WITH MILITARY AND POLICE AS WELL AS LOCAL FOLK MAKE THIS A HIGHLY CREDIBLE READ.

Ronan Sullivan is a popular author who needs a place to write without interuptions. Deirdre Patten, a single mother of two rambunctious boys, needs the money her apartment would bring but she doesn't want to rent to a man. Her ex-husband's cruelty has left her gun-shy. Ronan remembers meeting her at a company Christmas party several years ago when she was pregnant with her second child and her husband was drunk and couldn't care less how she got home. Ronan helped her into a cab and has never forgotten her. Deirdre doesn't know that Ronan is a popular author and of course there is the usual misunderstanding when she finds out. They have a wild encounter on her front porch practically the first night Ronan is there but they can't seem to keep their hands off each other. He is kind, considerate and takes to her boys. That encounter leaves her pregnant and they must decide what to do. He is the typical dumb guy who makes a marriage proposal based on how good they are together, etc. He has to learn to say those three little words before Deirdre says yes.

Deirdre Patten is a modern woman with an old fashioned charm. Her appeal is heightened by Anne Marie Winston's portrayal of a strong heroine who has overcome betrayal and abuse, but who is still able to be a strong parent figure to her boys. Deirdre's dog is also well trained and touches a spot in animal lover's hearts! She discovers a sensual side to herself when she includes a new man into her life again, and provides readers with the ultimate happy ending.

This is the first in the series of Coffin books that I have read. I must tell you that this book kept me guessing until the very end. Although the ending was a bit of a letdown, the rest of it leading up to it was terrific. John Coffin is a great character and I plan to read more books in the series.

This book was quick to read and had enough twists to make it enjoyable. At different times throughout the book I thought I knew who the killer was and sometimes I was right and then changed my mind. I did this a number of times as more information was revealed. This is the first book that I have read in the series and enjoyed it. I imagine that by reading more books in this series, I would get the know the characters better and enjoy the books even more.