Gray Books

The entire focus of this book is the personal experiences of flight crews who flew the Phantom. I find it a refreshing break from the typical aviation book laden with boring and dry technical jargon. The personal anecdotes of how this awesome aircraft started out as a fleet defense fighter and was eventually used as almost everything else is much more interesting.

Contents
Second edition of books I like are always welcome - and this book is no exception. So I was very happy when I was provided a review copy from the publisher.

I really liked the first edition of this book and consider this follow up an essential book for IT-security consultants and other professionals.

The book is comprised of five parts which each give an overview of important subjects for professional IT-security consultants. Within these five parts are 21 chapters which are mostly around 20 pages, making it possible for busy professionals to digest a chapter while performing the usual projects and everyday work.

The five parts are:
I) introduction to ethical disclosure, including legal system in the US
II) penetration testing tools: metasploit and backtrack
III) exploits 101 with everything from basic programming skills to writing shellcode, but only on Linux and Microsoft Windows.
IV) Vulnerability analysis which is a strong part about static analysis, reverse engineering, fuzzing, writing real life exploits and references to the essential tools used for these purposes
V) Malware analysis is saved for last and includes the finishing touch to why IT-security professionals should care about all the rest of the book

The great thing about this book are that non-programmers are presented with enough materials to get started in finding and developing exploits. This was also the reason why it took so long to do this review. Each time I read a chapter I was itching to get started running the examples and trying the techniques.

Since this book tries to cover a lot of materials they have decided to include references. There are a lot of specific references to full-length articles covering each of the specialized techniques described in the examples. This really works out great, since I can skip the articles I already have read - but get some in-depth materials to complement the book.

As you can probably understand this way of building the book makes it very efficient and much to my liking, I can decide where to go next. The reader can also decide to skip a chapter and enough references to other chapters are provided that I will never get lost. The small price to pay are a few lines repeated in two chapters.

The writing style and the edge of the book is presented with authority and the authors have done a superb job of making this book consistent. The book is written by 4 authors, but except for a few places were they hint to the author of a chapter there are no clues to who wrote what part. The book is overall high quality and I have only discovered two small wording errors.

I have not discovered any problems in the materials presented and was in general amazed by the updates done. As an example they use Vista for some of the Microsoft Windows examples and in other parts they reference articles and techniques that are up to date. When second edition of a book is published the fear is always that only the new chapters are updated, but it seems the book was updated in all chapters.

Some bad things, which are not really that bad are. I would expect more script-languages but for some reason a lot of examples are using C programs for exploits. I personally use Perl for developing scripted exploits, and the book does use that - but in odd places they use C programs.

This is not really wrong, but it feels a bit old'ish. To be fair in some cases the C programs are needed and since the programs that are to be exploited are also C programs, it works out.

The worst thing I can say about the book is that the index is kind of weak. I know specific things are included in the book, but they are nowhere to be found in the index. That does make the book less useful. Others would also think that a book like this should include a CD/DVD - but since everyone can download the tools I would recommended not adding a CD/DVD for the third edition, but use more resources expanding and adding more chapters instead :-)


Target audience
This book is for anyone interested in getting into hacking and developing exploits. While the primary target audience are security professionals I would recommend that some parts are copied and put on the desk of your manager - they really need information about risk, ethical hacking and legal aspects.


Conclusion
As I started out I welcome second editions, and I had high expectations when receiving this book.

I am happy to report that I was satisfied with the results, and even though I got to go through stuff again I was delighted to relearn a lot which I had forgot. Having an updated concise book about exploits with a great number of references written in an easy to follow language is high value for me.

I would suggest that IT-security consulting companies include this book in the welcome package for any new employee who is doing consulting in IT-security - along with a BackTrack CD, laptop, mobile phone and the usual other stuff.

One word of warning, if you own ALL the more specialized books about exploits, shellcode, secure coding, reverse engineering, fuzzing etc. you may want to skip this book. On the other hand you might own all these books, but never found the time to read them cover to cover, then you should read this book :-)



Links:
The home page for this book is:
http://www.grayhathackingbook.com

A sample chapter about metasploit is also available on the book website.

Fairy tales and folk tales are for all ages and about all ages. The amazing Jane Yolen edited this collection of tales that are often overlooked or forgotten. The tales, as the title implies, focus on older characters instead of the younger ones we often read about in Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Yolen has collected tales that will be of interest to any reader looking for a different focus when reading fairy tales and folklore. The multicultural sources emphasize the presence of elder characters around the world. This book would be particularly great as a gift to a parent, grandparent or other person who first read you a fairy tale as a child.

We are on the cusp of a new era. An era in which children's librarians like myself must wade through pools of graphic novel dreck to find those few shining books to add to our library collections. Teen librarians have it SO much easier. I mean, try naming ten fabulous children's graphic novels off the top of your head. Go on. Name 'em. Fortunately, publishers are sensing this immediate need and they are acting accordingly. Now we have books like Raina Telgemeier's, "The Baby-sitter's Club: Kristy's Great Idea" and Jennifer Holm's, "Babymouse" filling our shelves. Less flashy, but no less impressive, is Hope Larson's quiet and mysterious, "Gray Horses". If I were to call any cartoonist the Marjane Satrapi of children's GNs, Ms. Larson would earn herself the title. High praise. Good book.

Noemie is new to America. Coming straight from Dijon, France she's living on her own and attending college here in the U.S. for the first time. Initially shy, Noemie quickly captures the attentions of two other people. One is Anna, Noemie's neighbor and classmate. The two quickly become fast friends. The other person is a mysterious boy who takes pictures of Noemie when she's not looking. Noemie would probably spend a lot of her time worrying about this boy if it weren't for the dreams she has at night. Each night she dreams of a girl who's attempting to ride a horse as far from her mother as possible. As Noemie learns more about her home and draws some connections between herself and her horse, she begins to unravel the mystery of a young girl who left behind a part of her herself long long ago.

So is this book children's? Obviously the heroine is college aged. Would kids be able to find anything a young adult like Noemie did exciting? Certainly. "Gray Horses" is remarkable partly because its story is interesting to kids of all ages. Also, the dream story definitely involves a child and not a young woman, so the mystery is perfect for children of all ages. Now obviously your average "Captain Underpants" reader is not necessarily going to be able to follow and enjoy "Gray Horses". But for those girls who love Paul Danziger, Phyllis Naylor Reynolds, and want a GN equivalent, this is the book for them. Noemie's tale itself is very low-key. Concerned parents won't find a drop of sex, violence, or even off-color language here. Two of the characters take a slug from a flask, but who's to say what's in it? This is just a beautifully drawn story with a measured mystery.
Larson is clever with her storytelling. Since Noemie is French it wouldn't make any sense at all for her to think her own personal thoughts in English. For that reason she is subtitled much of the time. The real French words and phrases pop up throughout her speech while their English equivalents hover not far below. And the illustrations in this book as a whole are beautifully put together. Larson weaves together a horse motif throughout the pictures that's easy enough to miss if you're not looking for it. Her particular style is more rounded and adept than many of the graphic novelists working in children's literature these days. And just as a side note to all you librarians out there, the binding job on this book is heads and tails better than that cheap manga you keep having to replace. Thumbs up to Oni Press for their stronger glue!

So if you're in the mood for some high quality graphic novels that are child appropriate and written with more than a little pep, "Gray Horses" may certainly be for you. As good a tale as any of the children's books being written today and a lovely example of everything that's great about graphic novels. A GN book worth fighting for.

I (and many others) believe the best place to start with Doc Smith's "Lensman" series is Galactic Patrol; and as I've said why, at length, in my review of that opus, I won't repeat it here.

"Gray Lensman" begins where "Patrol" left off, and never flags, from the start to the finish.

Smith at this point is a massively improved writer from the author of the earlier Skylark series, and much more confident in his characters: Richard Seaton, for instance, never has the moments of self-doubt that trouble Kinnison, and would certainly never burst into tears (as the latter does when his nurse won't feed him beefsteak in hospital!).

Even more unexpected is the development of an impish sense of humour, manifested in several places, but most notably in the exploits of Wild Bill Williams of Aldebaran II, in the present volume -- surely one of the most entertaining episodes in the whole of Golden Age SF.

I've never understood critics -- including the normally-perspicacious Brian Aldiss* -- who say that Smith couldn't write. True, he probably never gave T.S. Eliot (his exact contemporary) any sleepless nights, and better authors have certainly stood on his shoulders; but the Lensman series is F-U-N, and without it the SF world would be a much duller place.

*in Billion Year Spree, later revised as Trillion Year Spree.

I (and many others) believe the best place to start with Doc Smith's "Lensman" series is Galactic Patrol; and as I've said why, at length, in my review of that opus, I won't repeat it here.

"Gray Lensman" begins where "Patrol" left off, and never flags, from the start to the finish.

Smith at this point is a massively improved writer from the author of the earlier Skylark series, and much more confident in his characters: Richard Seaton, for instance, never has the moments of self-doubt that trouble Kinnison, and would certainly never burst into tears (as the latter does when his nurse won't feed him beefsteak in hospital!).

Even more unexpected is the development of an impish sense of humour, manifested in several places, but most notably in the exploits of Wild Bill Williams of Aldebaran II, in the present volume -- surely one of the most entertaining episodes in the whole of Golden Age SF.

I've never understood critics -- including the normally-perspicacious Brian Aldiss* -- who say that Smith couldn't write. True, he probably never gave T.S. Eliot (his exact contemporary) any sleepless nights, and better authors have certainly stood on his shoulders; but the Lensman series is F-U-N, and without it the SF world would be a much duller place.

*in Billion Year Spree, later revised as Trillion Year Spree.

Gray Lions is a fascinating story of the life of a Nassau County Policeman. Great Reading.

As I read this book, I experienced an unusually strange feeling. I could almost hear the voice of the author reading her tales of survival to me. I wanted to cry out:"Read them again." She is such a skilled author and manages to write startling stories with utter restraint. Carl Friedman shows deep affection and respect for her characters.

"The Gray Lover" consists of three short stories that deal with Jewish traditions of mourning, reverence for learning and dangers of fanaticism. The title story takes the readers back to the 19th century, and we become voyeurs to the life in a small shtetl. The rabbi decrees that someone in the village must look after Chaya; he is an elderly widower, very poor and sick. This tale embodies the essence of the stories of Isaac B. Singer and Sholom Aleichem. However, the ending is pure O.Henry.

The second story centers on a highly knowledgeable group of Holocaust survivors and their offspring. They live in Holland, and this is the author's homeland. One couple's son changes from a highly lovable little boy into a thoroughly despicable teen-aged religious fanatic. The parent's friends compare his evolvement to Gregor Samsa's change in "Metamorphosis". Miriam is the story's narrator. Her own parents observed shiva for her, when she decided to become a journalist. Judaism and Christianity share the basic ten commandments, but for Jews alone, there are many more strictures. Even Jewish skeptics gain strength by observing many of the additional laws.

In the third story:"Bette" we learn how two grown children share the burden of their mother's dying days. This woman developed her appreciation of ordinary activities as a result of her imprisonment in Auschwitz. One son does not have the courage to participate in his mother's death.

The book touches lightly on pogroms and the Holocaust. One of the great wonders of the last century was the strong will-to-live of the survivors. The two modern stories in this collection place Carl Friedman in the same league with the best of modern Jewish writers

This is a re-title/reprint of the novel "Steel Magic" by Andre Norton. In it, 3 siblings discover the entrance to Avalon and have adventures there while trying to rescue 3 of magic talismans that belong to Arthur, Huon of the Horn and Merlin.

Nice children's book, which my 8 and 10 year old grandkids are enjoying now. They are the third generation of my family to enjoy the story.

I should mention that I am a fan of Ms. Norton's and own most of her titles, usually in multiples, since I also collect different covers AND the differing titles.

I checked this book out from the library so often when I was young that our librarian wanted to give it to me and was stopped only by her manager. Once, I counted the number of times it appeared on my checkout card, and it was over 50, and I continued checking it out over the next three years until I moved. This book contains a fantastic accounting of the author's many horses, their personalities, and how they affected her life. I recommend it to anyone of any age who loves horses.