Chong Books

if you looking for a db2 beginners book...its a right choice...even if you are a exp. dba, this book can come handy anytime for any reference or as a guide..

If you are new to DB2 this is the book you need.
It covers all the basic information you need to start working with db2, in a easy way.
If you also want to get certified get the DBA guide or one of Sander's book, and you are all set to go.

I would highly recommend this book as both a beginning level resources as well as a shelf reference for the more experienced DBA. I love the format and layout. This makes it easy to find what you need.

This is an excellent book for DB2 if you are a beginner or even an intermediate skilled user. This book covers not only DB2 9, it covers DB2 9.5 and the facts that pertain only to v9.5 are duly bulleted/annotated with the version number. This book treats DB2 from a DBA point of view so the SQL examples are pretty basic if you are a hardcore SQL programmer. If you are looking only for SQL programming for DB2 this is not the book to buy. But for an administrator, this is one of the best reference books on the desk. Since this book has lot of visual examples, you see what the authors are talking about rather than forming a mental image. Also, it covers XML/XQuery in DB2 in detail. Moreover, this book is an excellent reference if you are taking certification in DB2.
If you are on the lookout for the one book that will kickstart your DB2 career; this is the one.

If you have to own one DB2 book (Linux,Unix,Windows) , buy this one. Usually I end up buying 2 books. The first being a book being very visual and easy to read but lacking any real detail and practical knowledge. The second book is usually a scary developers guide which is extremely thorough but requires a PHD to read it, or you end up using it as a reference.

This book hits dead on!! Incredibly easy to read with examples and visuals that make understanding difficult concepts easy, but its encompasses every important concept in DB2 with plenty of detail. I love this book and recommend it to anyone looking for the DB2 book to buy. Of course there are times you will need to access DB2 Info Center when you need very specific detail, but this book will provide you on the right track and explain how you got there perfectly. Hats off to the authors of this one.

It is really a very good book from IBM about DB2-SPL. In our company we bougth a lot of DB2 book, but this is the very best.

from basics to tricks

Has been extremely helpful. Good information

The book describes IBM's Procedural Language, which runs on their db2 servers. It is not a general purpose language, like C or Java. Rather, it is tied directly to db2 and IBM's implementation of SQL. But within this context, the book explains the expressive power of PL. It shows at length how you can write stored procedures, triggers and functions in PL. The level of detail and the cited examples should reassure you of PL's capability.

But why even write business logic code at the database layer? There have been other books on n-tier application design, which call for the locating of business logic in a middle tier and not at the database. The authors' rejoinder is that while that makes for an elegant design, practical experience shows that often, crucial logic needs to be at the database. This reduces networks traffic and can heavily improve perforance. Hence the need for PL, or something like it.

Be wary of the book's claim that PL lets you write "portable application logic". It is portable only between instances of db2 running under linux, unix, Microsoft Windows or IBM's operating systems. When you write embedded logic in PL, you are also embedding yourself or your company into db2. Which may indeed be fine by you. But just so you know.

If you are a developer or DBA who is new to DB2, I would highly recommend this book to you. Both administration and development topics are covered, helpful best practices and tips are included, and illustrative examples are used.

The fundamental DB2 concepts and the different DB2 tools such as the Control Center are introduced in a very straightforward and easy-to-understand manner. This allows DB2-newbies to get fully up to speed on DB2 terminology and functionality, while serving as a gentle refresher for those who might have prior DB2 experience. The book achieves a good balance of topic selection and level of detail. More advance topics that are covered are explained in a manner that most novices would comprehend and in enough detail to be useful.

The prime focus of the book is on leveraging the ease-of-use and autonomic capabilities of DB2. If you are a developer not wanting to memorize database and/or SQL command syntax, you will particularly appreciate this book. The book shows how most common administrative tasks can be very easily performed using the GUI tools and Wizards provided with DB2. Ease of application development is demonstrated in both Java and Microsoft .net environments. An easy and intuitive introduction to DB2 SQLPL is also provided.

Overall, I think that if you are new to DB2, or need to learn the essential concepts/features needed to develop and/or administer DB2 quickly, you will be very pleased with this book. It is a perfect starting point for introducing the most important concepts, features, and tools. As you gain more experience and familiarity with the product, a more advanced book can be obtained.

I didn't know anything about writing DB2 stored procedures until I bought this book. After reading it I have written several procedures to aid in data migration. It is well laid out and has all the necessary information. The best part is that you don't feel like you are reading a technical book.

light read thats totally funny and brings you back to college days. and believe it or not you learn quite a bit! sooo many songs and bands were referenced in this book....i totally heard their music in a different way. 311 fans a must read

This is the definitive guide to what Pot brought to Pop Culture and it is really amazing how ingrained it is in our society. We all know Pot won't kill you, but leave it to Halperin and Bloom to show us how pot has enhanced our lives. Like it or not, we would be lost without weed and this entertaining, enlightening and thorough look at how Pot has ingrained our society is a great read. I wish I had this when I was 15, but I had to learn all the tricks on my own. Now I just have to hide my copy from my kids....I want them to figure it out the hard way.

well written, funny, and in-depth, this book covers it all from stoner slang, to films, to recipes etc... really nice packaging is a bonus and this would look fantastic on any coffee table.

Saw this book up in Martha's Vineyard this past weekend... couldn't wait to order it from Amazon (used of course) Fantastic book ... well written, valuable advice and great pictures. couldn't wait for 420 to roll around (or was it 7:14?)

I picked up this book as a gift for a friend. Now I'm not what one would call a "stoner". In fact, I can't remember the last time I smoked pot. I thumbed through it and got caught up in a really great read. I can only imagine how much better it would have been if I was a smoker, but it is a great fascinating and fun read for just about anyone. Loved it!

i need strategies & secret

I know that Imperialism 2 is a great game, and I want to make this cheaper, I bought a "internet cracked cd" that includes the game, so I played and liked it.when I saw the help issue (within-
the game),I saw the manual,and I asked myself what the heck is that manual.And so I wrote here and found out.

aleady out of words,
xxxxx!

I'm one of those people who buys every strategy guide for every game I have worth playing. The guide for Imperialism II is one of the very best I've read. It contains very helpful advice on sound strategies covering each aspect of the game and has a very helpful section outlining research options. Highly recommended.

I was pleasantly surprised by the information content, analysis, and true strategic content in the strategy guide. At a time when few strategy guides for war and strategy games are worth buying, this is a strong exception.

I was pleasantly surprised by the information content, analysis, and true strategic content in the strategy guide. At a time when few strategy guides for war and strategy games are worth buying, this is a strong exception.

This was as good as I was anticipating. I am pretty much an UDON faithful at this point, what with their outstanding Street Fighter stuff. If you are a Darkstalkers fan, you owe it to yourself to grab this one. My only complaint is that half the group is introduced, but the other half remains missing. (They are only seen in cameos in the beginning.) Of course, this just makes you beg for a Volume 2, which, as far as I know, is not on UDON's current schedule. One can hope, though.

I love Darkstalkers, and this graphic novel does the game justice. The drawings are beautiful first of all, and the story is very good. I read it quickly, its kinda short but other than that I had no problems with it at all. This is a great find for Darkstalkers fans, or even just someone who has no prior knowledge of the game series, and is just looking for an interesting fantasy read. Two Thumbs Up!!!!!

Very nicely drawn. I give it like a 4.8 because it says there will be a vol. 2 but capcom comics hasn't made a darkstalkers comic in 7 months or so. I liked it. i must buy for all capcom and comic readers.

I've been in the manga scene for a while. And although there is nothing new or differant about Darkstalkers Volume 1, it is thoroughly enjoyable from begining to end.

The artwork is very well done, the colours, consistency and style of the art just rocks. Plus all the characters are drawn very close to their original concepts.

The story line of the comic is not exactly brilliant. It's rather straight forward, but that does not mean it's not entertaining. I don't know how true the story is to the actual video game as I unfortunetly never got to play Darkstalkers.

I loved this graphic novel, and would not hesistate to recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading manga's that are beautifully drawn, beautifully executed and are filled with a beautiful lead female characters.

I cannot wait for the next volume.

For those who've never heard of Darkstalkers:

Based on Capcom's game series of the same name, Darkstalkers. The story goes something like this... Strange and bizarre things are happening in the world. Undead walks the earth, demons rampage the countryside, global warming is on the rise... Ok, that last part isn't part of the story. But something is causing all this strange phenomena. And this something is drawing closer to Earth. Its goal? It seeks to devour the planet. Earth's inhabitants have no knowledge of this sinister being. They are having enough troubles with the Darkstalkers already. What are Darkstalkers? Creatures with tremendous power, some malicious, some harmless, and some even nice. Scantily clad succubus, cat woman, werewolf, the undead, possessed suit of armor, you name it. They are the main characters of this lovely series called Darkstalkers.

For those that are somewhat familiar with the Darkstalkers series:

Darkstalkers vol 1, The Rise of The Dark Ones, is a collection of issues 1-6. I'm sad to say that the volume collection is missing the short (about 3-5 pages) story that deals with each character's background, and the humorous one page Darkstalkers Mini that are found in each issue. Example of the short story: Cool sword, but where did it come from? The two things that AREN'T in the normal issue (to my knowledge anyway) are the extra illustrations at the end, and a short story concerning Morrigan when she was born. If you know who Lilith is and the story behind her, then you are not missing much. It's a nice little bonus. You'll understand the main story fine even without this origin story.

IMHO, this is something that most Darkstalkers fans will enjoy. It is very silly of me to presume that every fan and none fan will enjoy this book. Story-wise, I think they did a very good job of conveying the atmosphere and character backgrounds. There are some action scenes. Only some minor characters are injured or dead. The art is very consistent, excluding the cover arts. I'm only saying this because some graphic novels have drastic art changes over the issues (Thundercats.)

Below is a list of characters that actually get story coverage. List in the order of appearances:

Pyron
Morrigan
Donovan
Bishamon
Felicia
Talbain
Victor
Demitri

B.B. Hood actually gets some coverage, but that's in the short story that the volume lacks. For those who are curious, check the last few pages of issue #6 to see her origin story.

This was as good as I was anticipating. I am pretty much an UDON faithful at this point, what with their outstanding Street Fighter stuff. If you are a Darkstalkers fan, you owe it to yourself to grab this one. My only complaint is that half the group is introduced, but the other half remains missing. (They are only seen in cameos in the beginning.) Of course, this just makes you beg for a Volume 2, which, as far as I know, is not on UDON's current schedule. One can hope, though.

I love Darkstalkers, and this graphic novel does the game justice. The drawings are beautiful first of all, and the story is very good. I read it quickly, its kinda short but other than that I had no problems with it at all. This is a great find for Darkstalkers fans, or even just someone who has no prior knowledge of the game series, and is just looking for an interesting fantasy read. Two Thumbs Up!!!!!

Very nicely drawn. I give it like a 4.8 because it says there will be a vol. 2 but capcom comics hasn't made a darkstalkers comic in 7 months or so. I liked it. i must buy for all capcom and comic readers.

I've been in the manga scene for a while. And although there is nothing new or differant about Darkstalkers Volume 1, it is thoroughly enjoyable from begining to end.

The artwork is very well done, the colours, consistency and style of the art just rocks. Plus all the characters are drawn very close to their original concepts.

The story line of the comic is not exactly brilliant. It's rather straight forward, but that does not mean it's not entertaining. I don't know how true the story is to the actual video game as I unfortunetly never got to play Darkstalkers.

I loved this graphic novel, and would not hesistate to recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading manga's that are beautifully drawn, beautifully executed and are filled with a beautiful lead female characters.

I cannot wait for the next volume.

For those who've never heard of Darkstalkers:

Based on Capcom's game series of the same name, Darkstalkers. The story goes something like this... Strange and bizarre things are happening in the world. Undead walks the earth, demons rampage the countryside, global warming is on the rise... Ok, that last part isn't part of the story. But something is causing all this strange phenomena. And this something is drawing closer to Earth. Its goal? It seeks to devour the planet. Earth's inhabitants have no knowledge of this sinister being. They are having enough troubles with the Darkstalkers already. What are Darkstalkers? Creatures with tremendous power, some malicious, some harmless, and some even nice. Scantily clad succubus, cat woman, werewolf, the undead, possessed suit of armor, you name it. They are the main characters of this lovely series called Darkstalkers.

For those that are somewhat familiar with the Darkstalkers series:

Darkstalkers vol 1, The Rise of The Dark Ones, is a collection of issues 1-6. I'm sad to say that the volume collection is missing the short (about 3-5 pages) story that deals with each character's background, and the humorous one page Darkstalkers Mini that are found in each issue. Example of the short story: Cool sword, but where did it come from? The two things that AREN'T in the normal issue (to my knowledge anyway) are the extra illustrations at the end, and a short story concerning Morrigan when she was born. If you know who Lilith is and the story behind her, then you are not missing much. It's a nice little bonus. You'll understand the main story fine even without this origin story.

IMHO, this is something that most Darkstalkers fans will enjoy. It is very silly of me to presume that every fan and none fan will enjoy this book. Story-wise, I think they did a very good job of conveying the atmosphere and character backgrounds. There are some action scenes. Only some minor characters are injured or dead. The art is very consistent, excluding the cover arts. I'm only saying this because some graphic novels have drastic art changes over the issues (Thundercats.)

Below is a list of characters that actually get story coverage. List in the order of appearances:

Pyron
Morrigan
Donovan
Bishamon
Felicia
Talbain
Victor
Demitri

B.B. Hood actually gets some coverage, but that's in the short story that the volume lacks. For those who are curious, check the last few pages of issue #6 to see her origin story.

This story relates the unhappy life of Kim Sakkat, "Kim who wears a bamboo hat".This talented poet composed a poem which dishonored his grandfather who allegedly aided rebels fighting the Choson dynasty.This lack of filial piety cost him his peace of mind. He took to a life of wandering about Korea. At one point, however, he learns that his grandfather was perceived as a hero by the local peasantry. This helps to mend the broken spirit which cursed him most of his life.The tale is interesting in that it mirrors Yi moon-yol's own life- his father defected to the North. The tension of divided loyalites is portrayed through a graceful, balanced writing style

Poet is a very exciting and interesting book. Among all the books that I've read, this would be the number one book that I would recommend to everyone.

I chanced to find this book at London when I was traveling there, and was very happy to find it on the shelve though it was placed too deep to find it out. Anyway, it really reminded me the discrepancy between what we believe right and what really happened several centuries ago. We are still believing that any forms of discrimination no matter what color we are, wher we live, how much we earn. But discrimination was there where the story goes. This book does not only mirror the emotional flows of Kim Sat-kat, but tries to argue about the twisted social structure. And this attempt beautifully melted into the poem, Korean traditional 4 line poem which Kim wrote.

this story is about family, art and history. the poet's self-exiled journey is still too realistic for many koreans even today. the ideology that an individual cannot be freed from, distorts individual life into empty cynicism and self-hatred, especially in the circle of "artists." the traditional connection of writers with intellectuals, and intellectuals with conscience, is in the root of (in)famous debates between "pure literature" and "engagement." the writer suffers in the middle, but still he has to deal with his family history first. anyway, it turns out to be not so different from the collective history, in terms that it situates the weak and (maybe therefore) suffering conscience of today. and lastly, the poet was nothing but the prisoner of his poems (language).

Poetry is the highest level of language subtlety and complexity. It takes work to comprehend and understand. Korean poetry in translation is next to impossible to access, grasp, or appreciate, especially for readers steeped in Western traditions. Fortunately, this novel is not so much about poetry, even though some very nice explanations abound; it is about the poet. When a tradition mandates that the political miscalculations of a person must be visited upon the `third and fourth generation' by society, most Westerners are unable to grasp the gravity and finality of such social behavior. Their ideology of individualism cannot comprehend such group power. Yi Mun-yol, and his translator, Chong-Wha Chung, bridge some of these cultural divides by simply looking at the poetry we call life. Thus, we are all poets, and when the suffering poet, Kim, of this novel wanders into the countryside, we walk with him. Life can be cold and cruel, full of inner turmoil and pain. Our lives may be different, but many of the elements of life's poetry are universal. We live in times that are harried and hurried. If there is a need to pause and reflect, contemplate and feed the soul, walking with Yi Mun-yol's THE POET may provide some food for thought.

If you are a SF fan, you will enjoy the artwork and stories in this second volume. I enjoyed Volumes 1 and 2 more than I did 3, and much more than Volume 4. This continues the battles and adventures, from the first Volume, of all the characters from the SF II and SF Alpha era and merges them. SF Alpha is a precursor to the SF II. It is a quick read with excellent artwork and an interesting story, and although there are some small parts of the story that are boring for a few characters, most of the story and battles are worthwhile. Do a search to find sample pages of what the artwork looks like. The book is in digest size, which is smaller than the comic book sizes. There is also an Ultimate SF book available which collects the entire four volumes and shows them in larger-than-comic-book-size pages if you can find that version. I recommend this book to all fans of SF, and to any non-fans who know of SF but have never tried to learn the backstories.

This is such a great book that belongs to a great series. It brings back a sense of nostalgia and really intertwines all the street fighter characters and their backgrounds into one storyline that is true to the character backgrounds. As far as I have seen, this is the best looking graphics I've seen a graphic novel have and is accompanied with a great storyline. It even has quotes from famous people, such as how Fei Long says something Bruce Lee once said. And they translate the moves from the game with detailed stories as to how they learned those moves or where they got what scars. A DEFINITE PICK UP FOR ALL STREET FIGHTER FANS OF ALL AGES. :)

this books and the others are really good, I ordered this book with 4 more and all were delivered in less than a week!!

excelent work, excelent art, WOW

I LOVE STREET FIGHTER

These book is amazing for real Street Fighter fans. The contains inside just couldn't stop you from reading it again and again.I just love it.

I recomend this book to anyone who likes comics, but especially to those people who are Streat Fighter fans.

This story reminds me a lot about the Street Fighter movie, but the twist Udon Comics takes on the story is terrific. Unlike the movie though, this comic incorporates EVERYONE in the Street Fighter universe (I think). And when combined with the art in the book which is absolutely phenomenal, you get a powerful combination which takes you back to the good old days when Street Fighter was king.

I wish I could have bought this book instead of all the comics, I would have saved myself $120.00. How can you say no when you'll save that much!

This book, as the title suggests, has a range of temperatures, from the cold showers of Zen perception to the warm arms of a lover. The introduction contains a very illuminating conversation on poetry between the author and a Korean Zen Master, who answers the question of how he writes by saying "this moment appears, then write a poem." The author of Cold Heart Thawing does just that, writing poems on the go, in airplanes, cars, temples, restaurants and offices. There are love poems, travel poems, haikus, Zen practice poems, even freeway poems. But no matter what subject a poem is about, there is always a direction to the language, always an anchor that ties any abstraction or high-minded idea to this world we live in, this physical body. This is American Zen poetry at its best, with the pulsing, vibrant roots of Kerouac and Ginsberg not too far beneath the surface.
If you're a Zen student, this book will be a delight; if you've only heard of Zen, this book will be an eye-opener; if you've never heard of Zen, don't worry--it's just damn good poetry.

This book, as the title suggests, has a range of temperatures, from the cold showers of Zen perception to the warm arms of a lover. The introduction contains a very illuminating conversation on poetry between the author and a Korean Zen Master, who answers the question of how he writes by saying "this moment appears, then write a poem." The author of Cold Heart Thawing does just that, writing poems on the go, in airplanes, cars, temples, restaurants and offices. There are love poems, travel poems, haikus, Zen practice poems, even freeway poems. But no matter what subject a poem is about, there is always a direction to the language, always an anchor that ties any abstraction or high-minded idea to this world we live in, this physical body. This is American Zen poetry at its best, with the pulsing, vibrant roots of Kerouac and Ginsberg not too far beneath the surface.
If you're a Zen student, this book will be a delight; if you've only heard of Zen, this book will be an eye-opener; if you've never heard of Zen, don't worry--it's just damn good poetry.

I came to Buddhism hoping I would learn to quiet my mind but also believing, regretfully, that I would learn how not to feel either. This wonderful book, which I picked up on my first visit to my Zen Center, of free verse on all aspects of life, helped to show me that without feeling deeply, loving greatly, and living fully, we cannot awaken. As Natalie Goldberg puts it so well, no matter how peaceful and present we become, we are human beings with feelings; we are not ice bricks. Whether or not one is following a Buddhist path, these poems are not to be missed. Do Chong's poems are a delight to all hearts on the path of Life.

And you thought zen poetry had to be about dew drops and frogs jumping into a pond... As the title justfully points to these wonderful poems deal with such familiar subjects as falling in love and out of love, leaving, working, getting angry, getting over it, living life every day and waking up in the process.
Their universal appeal reside in that there is a bit of all of us in each of them. No matter who and what you are, no matter where you live, these heartfelt and intimate expressions of the poet's heart will find a way to connect with your own heart... and hopefully jumpstart it's own thawing.

This book was requisite reading at Mount Sinai for the ABIM. It helped me pass as well as the USMLE 3. My mentor who was trained by the Author told stories from Sherlock Holmes to illustrate the diagnostic steps explaining it as an abduction rather than a deduction. I reccomend this to all sitting for the Boards, USMLE 3 or Recertification. The stories are interlaced with clear explanations which sharpened my clinical acumen.

This book helped me pass the American Boards and the MRCP.Dr Chong Wei Min and Dr Wong Kok Choon, who were my mentors at Mount Sinai are not just talented Interventional Cardiologists, but natural teachers.It was an honour. They performed the most difficult cardiological cases and taught us well.They were kind. They often spent time in developing countries to teach the new techniques of angioplasty. They have trained many Interventional cardiologists who are now eminent. They always said, you cant be a good cardiologist unless you are an excellent Physician. There is an an Expert Problem Solving Methodology as one reads the book.It uses a Socratic approach. Principles don't change but the understanding of science is moving rapidly. Learn the Principles and not the facts. As an Instructor in Internal Medicine, I found the book helpful in helping my Residents follow the path. It helped me crack the Rubik Cube of diagnosis. I use it in my Training Program.

All candidates have good knowledge. This book teaches the thinking process for analysing the problems in an extremely simplified way. It assumes a good mastery of the theory of medicine and focuses on the techniques of problem solving as a maths teacher would teach variations in calculus to gifted students. There are many who have a good grasp of facts but cannot use it in an advanced level. This book will help.

I found this book critical in passing the written part of the part II as it comprises all the scenarios which has been encountered thus far in the past exam. The explanations are lucid, concise and simplified in allowing one to understand subtle variations in clinical problem solving. Each question explores an expert approach to solving the case in the way the RCP has designed the exam to discriminate the good from the better candidates. It will also give the MRCP trainer a good tool to train candidates in critical thinking at for the exam.