Douglas Books

When we were senior high school and university students, I couldn't think of a better way to spend your summers, than working at Bigwin Inn before going back to school in the fall. I spent the summers of 1963 and 1964 there playing the piano in the band. Bigwin Inn became a very special place to most of us who spent time there. I didn't take many photos and now wish I had, but this great book can bring back a lot of your memories because it has lots of photos taken at all stages of this great Inn's life, as well as a history of this grand old Inn.

Relive your memories with this great book!

When we were senior high school and university students, I couldn't think of a better way to spend your summers, than working at Bigwin Inn before going back to school in the fall. I spent the summers of 1963 and 1964 there playing the piano in the band. Bigwin Inn became a very special place to most of us who spent time there. I didn't take many photos and now wish I had, but this great book can bring back a lot of your memories because it has lots of photos taken at all stages of this great Inn's life, as well as a history of this grand old Inn.

Relive your memories with this great book!

Bigwin Inn encourages the protection of a unique
landscape and its built environment by examining
Bigwin Island's environmental heritage, the
archaeological heritage of its First Nation burial
grounds, the nautical heritage of the steam yacht
Bigwin and the rare architectural heritage of the
Bigwin Inn complex.

McTaggart states, "If the great legacy of Bigwin
is to survive as testimony to an important part of
the country's identity, the landmark demands immediate
heritage designation, structural stabilizaiton and
protection against the implications of an ill-
defined future". Star columnist Christopher Hume
wrote, "As McTaggart rightly points out, "Bigwin
was the perfect embodiment of an era, a time when
man's ability to master nature with massive and
indestructibe projects was very much in vogue."
The complex consists of numerous buildings-some
huge, some small; some public, some strictly utilitarian
- but all designed with an eye to the environment-physical,
cultural and social. Even as it falls apart, the
Inn remains a magnificent structure. By contrast,
the majority of contemmporary buildings in Muskoka-
mostly cottages-though smaller and more intimate,
are at odds with everything around them.
The difference is that Bigwin Inn's designs assume
the full range of architectural possibilities.
The context is history, not some ersatz notion of
a Muskoka style, or of local color."

Bigwin Inn was presented to Her Royal Highness
Princess Juliana of the Neterlands in memory of
the Royal Family's stay at the resort during World
War II and of the fiftieth anniversary of the end
of World Warr II. "Princess Juliana was pleasantly
surprised and delighted with Mr. McTaggart's book
Bigwin Inn. The book brought back so many good
memories of the time she and the little princesses
spent at the resort. It is sad to see such a
beautiful place fall into a state of disrepair.
An inn with such a historical past should only but
be preserved,wrote her First Secretary.

"Members of the Ojibway trive have visited Bigwin
Island each summer since the 1800s to pay homage
to several of Bigwin Island's First Nation burial
grounds,"McTaggart states. Al Bigwin of the Alderville
Reserve recently wrote, "My wife and I visited Bigwin
Island two years ago. We were delighted to have
secured much prior knowledge from the book Bigwin
Inn."

Patrons of the resort included Ernest Hemingway,
Franklin Carmichael,Clark Gable, Carole Lombard,
John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Longfellow,
Os-Ke-Non-Ton, PM John Diefenbaker, Glenn Gould,
Cameron Peck and Glenn Miller. Lois Maxwell, popular
for her recurring role as Moneypenny in the
series of James Bond spy film classics and for her
Sun column, wrote, "Bigwin Inn, the nostalgic book
...chock-a-block with vintage black and white photographs
and color plates from the 'thirties has jolted into
mind, scenes, scents and images of elegant people,
dancing in the moonlight and hard work. As a 15-year old,
I fibbed about my age so as to work there as
a waitress one summer...I thank you for those
memories of my youth and innocence, Douglas McTaggart.
Bigwin Inn is a winner!

Mahogany launches, flappers, fortunes won and
lost, big bands, trains, gangsters, prohibition,
steamers, black tie masquerades in the dance
pavilion, opera and film stars lounging by the
Rotunda hearths...
Bigwin Inn by Douglas McTaggart will
take you there...

I bought this book as a resource for a teaching series I was about to do on the Book of Revelation.

I have found it to be very helpful for personal and ministry use. It is indeed indepth and user-friendly.

The author approaches the material from a dispensational, pre-tribulation, and futuristic appeal. But, he also gives thoughts on the other perspectives to give balance.

I like all the side bar information issues found in the text. You will enjoy this book if you purchase it.

This book is absolutely incredible. It breaks the book of Revelation down line by line, so you understand it perfectly. It's very easy to read, and provides information on different viewpoints of the prophecies. It's really just amazing.

I was terrified to read the book of Revelation before I got this book, because it was so scary and confusing, and it all just seemed totally illogical and bizarre. But with this book, I was able to understand it so clearly, and I was stunned by the glory of God.

This is an excellent book. Though it is indeed user-friendly, it also happens to be packed with all kinds of historical and theological details. The book is presented as a light-hearted survey of one of the Bible's most mysterious and controversial books, but the writing and research is better than most "serious attempts" being forwarded in a genre more known for sensationalism than soundness of study. The author clearly has a point of view (Pre-millenial Dispensationalism), but quite surprisingly addresses other points of view with at least a modicum of respect. This is an exceedingly rare quality for prophecy pundits as they tend to write as if their position on the Book of Revelation is the only one that exists. You can mine a lot of great stuff out of this book even if you don't agree with everything the author has to say. I highly recommend this book for beginners and more serious students of prophecy.

I purchased Bossholes: Bosses Behaving Badly for myself recently. After reading it, I bought several additional copies as gifts for friends and family members who have experienced the "joy" of working for one or more 'bossholes' through the years. This book takes a tongue-in-cheek view of a serious subject, and provided me some of the best laughs I have had in years. Not only did I recognize a couple of the "bosshole" types from my past, I unfortunately recognized some of the traits in myself. Made me think. BRAVO to the authors for a management training book that's not only on target, but hits a resounding bulls-eye.

Leaders, beware! The word is out. Regardless of where you sit on the organizational chart, Bossholes, Bosses Behaving Badly is a must read. Be prepared to laugh, cry, and lose sleep (especially if, as a leader, you discover yourself among the 22 Bosshole species). Written in a warm, entertaining and satirical style, this book will give such leadership gurus as Blanchard, Covey et al new material with which to work. You'll want to share this little "gem" with all your friends-I am.

I read this wonderful little book on an airplane, and am sure that the flight crew either wanted to join me - or send the air marshalls to sit next to me. I could not stop from chuckling in the beginning of the book and by page 13, I was laughing out loud (belly laughs, with snorts and all!) Once you get a basic understanding of bosses behaving badly in Bosshology 101, you're ready for my favorite part; the Bosshole Trifecta! Not to steal the book's thunder, but the trifecta goes a long way in explaining executive behavior at companies like Enron, Worldcomm, Tyco, etc., and does it with the most delightfully cynical humor I've seen in a long time. This book could do for 00's, what Dilbert did for the 90's.

"Brothers Karamozov" is so good right from the first paragraph that I literally could not put it down -- I read it while cooking, during an ultrasound exam (!), even for 5 minutes in church! It's a grand, sweeping epic of a novel, which reads like the latest page-turner on the best seller list -- the characters are so vivid & real & 3D, the most amazing & appalling things keep happening to them and keep being caused by them, & yet at the same time it's a fascinating look at 19th cent. Russian life & mores, at religion, at the psychology of families....just a FANTASTIC novel, I've never read a finer one!!

This amazing epic is a story on four levels. It is a murder mystery and a character study (on a grand scale). It is also a treatise on religion as well as monumental expose of pre Bolshevik Russia. One of the truly great novels I have ever read. Enormous in scope, microscopic in detail. A challenging read that will leave you drained but wanting more.

The Brothers Karamozov is an epic yet personal novel that will knock the wind out of you. My favorite character is the vapid Grushenka who bedevils all of the slightly twisted Karamozov brothers and Father. A great book for its religious, historic, and lyrical values.

My thanks goes' to packtpub.com for giving me this opportunity to review this Php-Nuke book.
So maybe your thinking, is it something for you?
Without kicking too much i would say yes, but with some remarks.

The E-book starts with a story at the beginning explaining what php-nuke is, and that's the area of the newest Nuke Noob.
Is it boring?
No! But a concern could be that the average Nuker hates to read, many forums prove that all the time.
But the author Douglas Paterson hit the right tone in explaining it all in his own way, by making it fun to read.

The book explains very well, the first steps to take and all that comes after that.
The tutorial is well documented with pictures, also explaining even better what to do.

Disapointing is that the author should have give some people more attention when it comes to php-nuke security.
Chatserv that walks the endless road of patching php-nuke where Francisco Burzi faild.
But also Gaylen (aka Raven) and Bob marion for their Sentinel.

Sure long ago we all could install php-nuke without being afraid of any attacks,but not anymore and that's just the price you pay when you run worlds most downloaded content management system.
Personaly I believe that Sentinel should be standard in php-nuke and its popularity grows by the day,cause php-nuke sites without patches or Sentinel are hacked every day.

But lets continue....
This book will be good for not just the Noob, but also for the serious user among us.
Sounds funny but if everybody would buy it we could possibly close all forums, but like i said.....reading is not something most will enjoy.
But i do believe it will open a whole new world for you.
The book covers almost 8 pages of index, showing you exactly where to find everything, from blocks to modules, from themes to fixing errors.
It also shows a wide variety of technical details, you can read whenever it suits you.

It also takes you a bit on a coding tour, which can be a nice learning process for most people.
What's often a problem for some, are the themes,
A change of colour is easy, but changing the whole header or structure is a different story, Douglas Paterson even explains that greatly and with ease!

A good thing about the book is that it takes you "inside" Php-Nuke and shows you how it works, and what actually happens when a page is requested.
If you read the whole book, then after that, you are well on your way to calling yourself an expert on Php-Nuke.

But some info about the book...
Like i said...the table of contents takes up to 8 pages and at the end a big index.
All together the book is about 305 pages !
And also interesting...if you order the print book from packtpub.com you can add the ebook for about $5 extra, which gives you immediate access while you wait for the book to arrive.

Hitwalker
www.hitwalker.com
Phpnuke database

Although I have fond memories of scouring the web and user forums for instructions and tutorials on how to install, configure and use open source software, I am particularly pleased to see such well-written and high quality books coming out on open source applications every month. Building Websites with PHP-Nuke by Douglas Paterson is no exception. The author has written a book on PHP-Nuke, an open source content management system, which provides opportunity for open source software to gain even wider acceptance and utilization. I would characterize the book as most useful for the novice-to-moderately skilled user, however the book provides broad coverage of topics beyond the novice user, so advanced users will find many of the chapters useful as well. I fully recommend this book to anyone interested in learning and getting up to speed quickly on the PHP-Nuke open source content management system.

The 295 page book progresses well, and generally spends an adequate amount of time on each topic. Chapter lengths are not too long or arduous, as some can be, and make fairly easy work of guiding the reader through getting a working PHP-Nuke system up and running. In addition, I like the order and presentation of the chapters, which flow very well and are organized in a logical manner. The first part of the book deals with introduction, installation, and initial setup of the PHP-Nuke environment. The author begins in chapter 1 with an effective and concise introduction to PHP-Nuke. Chapter 2 deals with installation, configuration, security patches, and some troubleshooting of the installation process. Although I particularly appreciated that the author addressed issues of security and the reasons for applying security patches, I did feel that this chapter was a little rushed. I would be concerned that the novice-to-average user might get lost in some of the database setup steps, or in the installation of phpMyAdmin. I realize this book is about PHP-Nuke, but I think a slightly longer treatment of these topics within chapter 2 would be very useful and could alleviate any potential confusion or frustration on the part of the novice reader. I should add that the book does provide many useful web resources for additional help in these areas, and that the book also offers an appendix for installing and using XAMPP, a bundled collection software needed run PHP-Nuke and most other open source software. Normally users need to install and configure all of the server and software applications separately, which are in themselves topics for entire books, but XAMPP comes with a simple installer and a management and control interface to streamline the entire process.
The middle chapters of the book do an excellent job on taking the reader through the workings of the PHP-Nuke system with ample and appropriate screenshots. The author does an effective job at guiding the reader and creating a working system, while at the same time covering the important basics of setup, structure, and user access, as well as additional topics of system/story and module management.

The final few chapters are devoted to more advanced topics of customization. Chapter 9 discusses customization within the PHP-Nuke framework or through basic hacking of the source code, and chapter 10 deals with extending PHP-Nuke with programming through the utilization of its API-like code. Although I would characterize the book as being more useful for a novice-to-moderately skilled user, there are several chapters at the end of the book in which more advanced users would find helpful in customizing the look and functionality of the system.

Overall, I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in learning and getting up to speed quickly on the PHP-Nuke open source content management system. The book is a concise and easy to following guide to quickly learning this content management system.

What I liked:

How pleasantly surprised and impressed I was with this book! Doug has written this with the novice, average, and advanced user in mind and has done a most excellent and impressive job.

I have been professionally building Information Systems for some 38 years now and got interested in PHP-Nuke back in 2001/2002. I run one of the most popular PHP-Nuke support/security sites on the Internet ( http://ravenphpscripts.com ) and so I am highly critical, knowledgeable, and experienced when it comes to PHP-Nuke, PHP, and MySQL in general.

Doug's writing style is excellent. He takes you through a cursory understanding of the subject matter at hand. He then gives real-life examples. Then he challenges the reader with "What just happened?". But, he doesn't leave you there. He offers code to enhance the code and to entice you to do more. Doug explains every aspect of the core Nuke distribution and does it very well. His chapter on Changing the Theme is excellent and should help many a user to customize their site. Most other authors gloss over the theme area and more or less advise you to contact an expert.

What he doesn't do, and I am so glad he doesn't, is spend half the book on installing the environmental software needed to run PHP-Nuke. So many books waste (in my opinion) my money and time trying to show you how to install *nix/Windows, Apache/IIS, MySQL/RDBMS, and PHP/ASP. He assumes you are there and want to build a web site using PHP-Nuke. What he does do, is add an appendix that explains how to get up and running using a popular all-in-one application called XAMPP (XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl. XAMPP is really very easy to install and to use - just download, extract and start.) Then, all you do is add PHP-Nuke, follow his instructions, and you have a working web site!

What I didn't like:

There are two critical areas, in my opinion, that Doug seems to have avoided like the plague. In fairness, I can understand why he did. As a preface to the following comments, I think he just wanted to concentrate on the positive aspects and avoid the potentially subjective and argumentative issues that would be generated by introducing the issues. But, what he avoided telling the users will come back to haunt them, in a very severe way - being cracked.

The first thing is that the author (of PHP-Nuke), or current maintainer/owner of the name and original code, Francisco Burzi, does not offer any support at all for the CMS. He openly states on his web site "PHP-Nuke is distributed AS IS, without any warranty nor technical support according with the GPL license". In other words, you will get no support from the author. He also does not offer any forums for support so you will have to go elsewhere for support.

The second issue I have is a major one. PHP-NUKE, as distributed by Burzi, is very insecure and prone to many kinds of exploits. Doug does mention my site and a couple others for security updates and help, but if you blink, you will miss it. The security issues would easily warrant a chapter of its own. Any one who uses PHP-Nuke needs to know about the many security risks if installed as is, right from the virgin download.


Having said all that, I still give this 5 stars. This is a book that every Nuke user, regardless of your skill level, needs to have on their book shelf. I recommend it with the highest recommendation. This book easily surpasses every other book that has been published on PHP-Nuke, at least in English :). I can't comment on the ones that have been written in other languages.

Gaylen Fraley (aka Raven)
http://ravenphpscripts.com
http://ravennuke.com (A very secure CMS)

A classic book covering all aspects of business stats
-a real boon to students and business professionals.

I manage a group of people who are incredibly skilled in data modeling and business statistics. I purchased this book as a refresher and reference - and was very happy with it. It discusses key statistical issues in simple terms - giving you the tools to handle yourself in any discussion.

I read this book just before starting an MBA course called "Basic Statistics". I found the book to be clear, intuitive and it certainly covered all topics we discussed in class. In my opinion, this book presents an easy way to understand Statistics by applying them to real business situations. I still use it as reference at work. Highly recommendable for business people interested in Statistics and with no much background in Math (just make sure you know how to add)

I bought this text when I was first in college. Now, nearly 20 years later and after grad school, I look back at this text and am still clearly impressed at how well it was written and organized. The examples were very clear and timelessly practical. I have it on my desk at work for the occassional reference on some of my projects or even if something peaks my curosity.

Note: This is for the 'Alternate' edition.

This book takes the reader from the ground up, up to (nearly) "everything else". Theorems are proven and discussed clearly. The format of the book is consistently appropriate. This book could be considered a must-try, perhaps a must-have.

I HAVE USED SEVERAL OTHER TEXTS (ALGEBRA & TRIG AND PRECALCULUS)
WRITTEN BY MICHAEL SULLIVAN. WHEN I BEGAN CALCULUS I FOUND THIS
TEXT BY SULLIVAN AND MIZRAHI. mY COMMENTS APPLY TO ALL BOOK BY SULLIVAN. THEY ARE UNIFORMLY OUTSTANDING BECAUSE THE EXPLANATION ARE CLEAR AND WRITTEN FOR THE INTENDED AUDIENCE. SULLIVAN NEVER
FORGETS WHO HIS AUDIENCE IS. THERE ARE LOTS AND LOTS OF EXAMPLES
WORKED OUT STEP BY STEP WITH EACH STEP EXPLAINED. THE EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS START WITH MECHANICS OF INCREAING DIFFICULTY AND THEN WORD PROBLEMS AND THEN ONTO CHALLENGING THEORETICAL PROBLEMS. THE BOOKS ARE VERY READABLE BUT ARE STILL STIMULATING
AND CHALLENGING AT THE PROPER LEVEL FOR EACH BOOK. HE IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW MATHEMATICS AUTHORS I HOLD IN HIGH REGARD. i AM A
STUDENT AND TUTOR AND I LOOK AT A TEXT FROM BOTH POINTS OF VIEW.
YOU CAN BUY ANY TEXT BY MICHAEL SULLIVAN SIGHT UNSEEN.

Douglas Leighton is an amazing photographer. It's clear from looking through this book that he knows how to take photos worthy of publication. I've never been to the Canadian Rockies but now I intend to.

I recently went on New Year's ski trip to Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada (1998-99) and took some great pictures. Unlike my amature pictures, Douglas Lighton's pictures truly capture the spirit and raw beauty of this unsploiled landscape. In this book, on the inside cover, one line reads,

"Many of today's visitors are on their own kind of vision quest. These mountains rejuvenate tired souls."

Let me tell you, I left my high stress corporate job and graduate studies for 8 days to enter the most beautiful area I have ever visited in my 28 years of existance. I fully agree with the author when he wrote, "These mountains rejuvenate tired souls." I came back to Atlanta changed forever by the utter sense of "awh" when we stayed in the magnificint resort town of Banff and visited the surrounding areas like Lake Louise. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates the splendor of mother nature doing her finest work. I also recommend visiting Banff National Park in either the summer and/or winter seasons; either time of year you will get the full effect of this magnificent and rejuvenating area. By the way, the residents of this area are among the friendliest people I have ever met too!

If you're looking for the perfect "coffee table book" this is it. From first glance you will be captivated by the most beautiful pictorial you could ever lay your eyes on, no exaggeration! This book will have you calling your travel agent and planning a trip to Canada A.S.A.P. From Mt. Robson in Jasper to Red Rock Canyon in Waterton, over 100 pgs of full color landscapes, flora and fauna of the Canadian Rockies. Each picture is titled and described with historical facts and details which only enhance your enjoyment of this awesome book. I highly recommend this photographic masterpiece, you won't regret the money spent!

I have for many years seen books come and go regarding the engineering profession and elements of a successful career. Berson and Benner have done an excellent job laying out how to jump start your career, how to develop on the job, how to prepare yourself to be a professional, and have also identified contemporary issues facing the individual engineer. The book is readable, practical, and useful. In engineering terms, buying, reading, and applying the knowledge communicated in the book will yield at least a 1000 fold return! I would recommend that every engineer should read this book!

I highly recommend that all engineering graduates be give a copy. This would be a great gift from family, friends, and alumni associations to the newly minted engineer. It is a must read whenever an engineer is considering a job change. An outstanding job is done in presenting ethics and professionalism in very pratical terms.

It may take a few years of experience to appreciate the depth and breadth of mentoring advice presented in this excellent career guide. Building a network of contracts and planning needs to start at the very beginning of a career. Understanding diverse aspects of engineering and business risks will be very helpful. I am particularly impressed with the insight provided for leadership and learning soft skills. The range of topics makes this a reference book to be reviewed every couple of years.

I'm a retired professional engineer. I wish that a publication like this had been available to me when I was getting our of school. It would have helped my transition and career development.

This book was absolutly riveting, I just loved the nonstop action, definetly a good buy

I have just recently read Carrier by Keith Douglass and I greatly enjoyed it. His style and fast pace use of action reminds me of Tom Clancy'searly work. A great discovery for me and I wait for Keith's other books to arrive.

I am a great fan of the Kieth Douglass Carrier series. I particularly enjoyed reading the first novel of the Carrier series,Carrier. It is a prefect blend of the Navy portraying their effectiveness in perfect unison during a crisis situation. The novel gives one a clear and crisp view of what United States Navy life islike in most aspects. The novel is fast paced, has loads of action, detailed flying procedures, and battle scenarios. Most characters are model naval personnel, from the attitude, to the way they handle any situation that they are put up against. I particularly enjoyed the way Douglass choreographed the battles, all the way from the man pulling the chains, to the man flying the $30 million dollar F-14 Tomcat. It is very emotional, and will make one feel that they are in the battle themselves. Overall, it is a spirited and patriotic novel that makes one want to join the Navy, or at least respect even more, after they finish.