Morrison Books

Of all the books I bought to learn VB NET, this is the one I find myself turning to repeatedly for information on object oriented programming. The author' treatment of inheritance and delegates/events are models of clarity. I also found his treatment of mutithreading to be clearer and far easier to understand than the new Wrox book which was supossedly devoted to threading. If you want a book on the VB NET language you can't do any better than this one!

This is a pretty-good book if you base it on the Beta. The chapters on OOP (Chapters 4 - Classes and Objects and 5 - Inheritance and Interfaces) are very long. Chapter 4, 5 and 6 (Event Handling and Delegates)form the heart of this book, but I would have broken them down into smaller chapters. The information in those chapters provide a good introduction to OOP. At times, I felt the authors were hard to follow and found myself re-reading several pages especially in Chapters 4 and 5. Overall this book probably is about 3 1/2 stars. I am hoping that in the next release of this book that the authors would follow their own advice and break the chapters down into smaller parts. ...

The book is primarily designed for experienced Visual Basic developers making the transition to VB.NET. However, it can also be appreciated by other experienced programmers regardless of their programming background.

The book begins with an introduction to the differences between VB.NET and VB. The next chapter introduces you to the new Visual Studio .NET integrated development environment (IDE). You will get a tour of the main windows, and learn how to compile and debug your VB.NET applications. Chapter three teaches the VB.NET syntax. You will learn the VB.NET expressions, operators, and program control flow. The next couple of chapters form the core of the book. These chapters cover object oriented programming and inheritance. VB.NET is the first truly object oriented programming version of VB, and a solid understanding of these new features is essential in taking full advantage of VB.NET's new powers.

The next few chapters go on the cover important topics such as, event handling, error handling, building user interfaces, input/output streams, and multithreading. The final two chapters give a brief introduction to database access with VB.NET using ADO.NET, and a brief overview of ASP.NET.

The book provides clear and complete coverage of all topics. It includes many real world code examples which help the reader to better understand all the concepts presented.

I bought this book and several others to prepare myself for the transition from VB6 to VB.NET. I wish they would have covered the disconnected datasets, ADO.NET and ASP.NET in more detail. I would have given it 5 stars if it had.

Other than that, I feel that it is an excellent resource to prepare a programmer from any background for VS.NET. It does a good job of covering the OOP, Inheritance, Overloading, and multithreading subjects in a concise manner.

The book also has a web site for errata and source code. Gary Cornell is a good author and it shows in this book he co-authored.

I have a few Wrox Publishing Books, but my library is starting to collect more an more APRESS books because their style and format is what I expect from a book.

Wrox does publish some good books also:
I would also recommend .NET Enterprise Development in VB.NET from Design to Deployment, ISBN 1861006179, (Wrox Publishers)

This book simply doesn't have enough information to be named "a guide for EXPERIENCED programmer". It is rather a quick overall introductions. So don't get this book if you need to get some serious work done.

Book was easy to read and understand. Found it interesting and informative.

As an agnostic (formerly a Christian), I must say that Frank Morison deserves great praise for his book Who Moved the Stone? He is cautious and polite, and he relies, for the most part, on natural reasoning as opposed to supernatural suppositions. For all these reasons his book is more accessible to us non-Christians than the works of many strident Christian resurrection apologists.

The first half of the book focuses on the arrest, trial, execution, and burial of Jesus. Morison's detailed, minute-by-minute reconstruction is very impressive, though necessarily somewhat speculative. (He seems to accept almost every odd bit of the gospel accounts as significant and tries to knit them all tightly together.)

Eventually Morison arrives at the resurrection question. His suggested answer to his own title question, Who Moved the Stone?, is that the tomb guards moved the boulder away from the entrance to the tomb of Jesus out of curiosity after they heard the sounds of a resurrection. As he writes in Chapter 13: "... some unusual circumstance caused them to look inside the tomb." This motivation that Morison ascribes to the guards does not seem very plausible to me, but at least he suggests natural, human agents at work on the stone, not supernatural ones (angel, miraculous earthquake, as in Matthew 28).

In the process, Morison comes very close to another and, I truly believe, much more probable answer as to why the tomb guards would have moved the stone: In order to remove the body of Jesus. Why do that? It makes perfect sense if the guards were working on the orders of the Jerusalem authorities, who were understandably (from their viewpoint) outraged by the offensively honorable burial of the corpse of Jesus, and wished to eliminate any potential worship of his tomb, including any violent rally that might soon occur there. That motivation would also explain the request of the Jewish authorities to Pilate in Matthew 27 much better than a resurrection prediction they had never heard. Morison shies away from the body theft conclusion, but it lies very, very near to his reasoning. No other Christian writer I know of comes as close to this scenario. Please read Matthew chapter 28, deleting its supernatural passages, and see what it reveals: A body theft involving the tomb guards in collusion with the religious authorities. Then reflect on Morison's own words: "Think of the highly placed Sadducees who were prepared to go to almost any length to discredit and overthrow the [Jesus] cause" (Chap. 14).

Another question deserving of a book title is this one: Why Did the Resurrection Happen at Night, and Without Any Witnesses? Again, the probable answer: Because there was no resurrection, only a body theft. Once removed by night, as the situation required, the body would then have been burned, destroyed with lime, fed to animals, or reburied secretly some place where it would have decayed beyond recognition within a couple of months. Corpses normally decompose completely, down to the bones, within less than a year. And the new Christian sect was tiny and trivial for the first years of its existence (unless one believes in the fantastical "three thousand" converts of Pentecost, and the "flying flaming tongues" of that same day). The Jerusalem authorities must have largely ignored the Christian sect at first. Nor would those authorities have needed to produce the body to contradict the resurrection claims of the Christians. They already had a pat allegation in place that the disciples themselves had stolen the body. That was persuasive enough for the Jerusalem masses. There was no need to say or do anything more. The Christians remained a tiny sect in Jerusalem and Judaea for years, largely unsuccessful in their proselytizing efforts. And of course those few people who did convert must have been mainly attracted / intimidated by the Christian claims that the "End Time" was near (which it was not).

But back to Morison. He wisely avoids discussing in detail the reputed resurrection appearances of Jesus as related in the gospels. He recognizes that the earliest, pre-gospel reports were actually very vague ones (Jesus "was seen," that's all), easily due to visions or vivid dreams or cases of mistaken identity or the like. (Morison, Chap. 14: "Granted that a vision came to one of them and perhaps to all.") Years or decades later those first bare reports were embellished in the gospel scenes of a risen Jesus walking, talking, and eating with his followers.

All in all, Frank Morison deserves great respect as an "honorary agnostic" for his cautious and largely naturalistic attempt to explain the ancient mystery of the empty tomb.

I find the title very interesting. I must confess that I have not yet read the book, but can give those who may still be asking the question some food for thought, or possible insight that affirms what the gospels speak of. The title sparked my interest as to what others may say, and as I write I am sure there will be many who disagree with me, which is expected.

In my past, I have counseled with quite a few who have had serious problems spiritually, emotionally, mentally, etc. which medicine and other forms could not help.

The Bible clearly states that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against Satan and his forces. One incident some fifteen years ago happened as a few friends and myself where counseling, and praying for an ex-Satanist who had spirits speaking out of her as they manifested. This, when concerning the source may or may not be 100% accurate, but is still food for thought.

As we were praying for God to cast a manifesting evil spirit out (some evil spirits actually cried out to Lucifer to help them) A gentleman who was also there with us was reading some scripture's out loud in the background concerning the resurrection of Christ. All of a sudden the manifesting evil spirit spoke up with anger and said "We know! we were there, we tried to stop them from rolling away the stone." Then we said angels, and it said with disgust "Yes!" (this was said without any prompting by anyone, but the creature itself!) We all looked at each other in disbelief, for this vile thing may well have witnessed the greatest event in history, for when we consider how Satan must have reacted when he realized what he had done and the scenario he had set up, It is likely that Satan and all his demons was there to battle against God and his angels in stopping the stone from rolling away and opening the tomb. If the stone could have been stopped, then Satan would have had a great victory, as Jesus would have not arose after stating earlier that he would. But he did, just as was foretold hundreds of years earlier! He lives! As I mentioned, food for thought :)

Every Christian has their own story about how they came to know
Jesus Christ as their personal savior. This is known as their testimony. Frank Morrison's testimony can be found in Who Moved the Stone? What makes this story compelling on many levels is that Morrison, an English journalist and one-time skeptic of Christianity, actually began this book as a means to disprove the very foundation of the Christian religion: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He researched numerous historical documents including the four gospels found in the Bible and it became apparent that over the course of his research one question continued to plague him, thus the title of his book. What began as a narrative aimed at refuting the resurrection soon became a testimonial of how one man transformed from skeptic to follower. Rather than argue the case for the resurrection with faith alone, Morrison uses logic and reason to discount the counter-theories that he
once believed to hold the truth. For example, why would the Jewish high
priests hide Christ's body when the resurrection itself poses such a
substantial threat to their power? Why would the disciples do the same
and not immediately proclaim that Christ had risen, knowing that not
doing so would risk the movement running out of steam as had been the
case with other philosophic and religious leaders at the time? Instead,
they waited months before doing so, perhaps because they were asking
the same question that Morrison was asking. And if the resurrection
were false, how could such a large following have developed on its
heels? If you're a Christian, you will enjoy the pure and simple reason that Morrison applies to the trial, conviction, execution and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you're searching for spiritual answers, Morrison may very well have provided them.

Reviewed on behalf of [...]

While I am not a "Christian" according to the fullness of the contemporary definition of that word, I unhesitatingly acknowledge that Yeshua (Jesus) is my King and personal Savior, and I am well past ANY doubt that the Bible was Divinely inspired - though certainly not inerrant as "Born Again" Christians somehow insist. I don't exactly recall when or why I came into possession of 'WHO MOVED THE STONE?' but finding it in my To-Be-Read Bookcase, and knowing it is considered one of the true classics in Christian apologetics written by a former skeptic, I read it with interest.

I appreciated the powerful reasoning ability that Frank Morison brought to the Scriptures and how he - much like I tend to do - dissected passages, examinig every word for nuance and hidden meaning. A couple of reviewers have complained that Morison uses only the Bible itself to prove the historicity of the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection of Christ. Though this is not wholly true (he occasionally references extrabiblical sources such as the Apocrypha and the Jewish historian, Josephus), I think that the thrust of his argument is that the New Testament "books" contain many internal proofs of their authenticity. I agree! Even so, one reviewer here wrote "Though this is an interesting study, this is not a book for newcomers." And I agree with him also (we'll come back to this point later).

My personal definition of a 3-Star book is: "Worthwhile though notably flawed." In what way is 'WHO MOVED THE STONE?' notably flawed? The book was originally published in 1930 and Morison's writing exhibits the more formal (read: "stiff") style of his times. It's nothing like trying to read Shakespeare, yet be prepared for words like "hitherto" and "hardihood", and phrases such as "wrought to the extremest pitch of anguish" and "ever memorable in human history." These are small prices to pay for the meaning that his careful analysis sometimes wrings from the Scriptures. Still, I feel that some of his conclusions are highly arguable - being based on tortured suppositions - and I even disagree with one or two basic assumptions (i.e., on page 37 Morison states that at The Last Supper, Judas knew that the spirit of Jesus was "already bending to the Cross." I am not the only person who believes that Judas recognized Jesus as the true Messiah but didn't recognize the Messiah's true mission. Judas meant to force Jesus into a position where He would have to assert Himself and violently defend his Kingship. Judas was caught by surprise when Jesus went to the Cross rather than fighting for the Crown, thus the "traitor's" remorse that drove him to suicide in Matthew 27.) But one doesn't need to agree with every point in a book for it to be well worth the reading.

I particularly enjoyed Morison noting that it would actually have been strange "if the band of mourners had not been predominantly women." It makes perfect sense these being "the mothers of His men and the woman whose life His influence had utterly transfigured" and that they were in possession of "the mighty and unchanging instincts of the human heart, especially the feminine heart." And chapter 12 which takes a good hard look at the motivating factors that drove Saul/Paul, "the man from Tarsus" from being "the outstanding figure on one side of the controversy" to becoming "the outstanding figure on the other" was very well conceived and executed. Morison even observes that Paul believed that Jesus would return in glory to the earth during Paul's own lifetime. This gets overlooked by so many Bible students. There's reason to suspect that John also misperceived the timing of the "Second Coming." Saint Peter it seems was the only apostle who clearly understood that the return of Jesus was two thousand years in the future (see 2nd Peter:3).

Overall, 'WHO MOVED THE STONE' is a valuable lesson in deductive reasoning, and reading it would help train anyone's mind in the way that he or she should undertake a serious study of Scripture. (I'm always surprised when supposedly earnest Bible students give me that blank stare when I mention that there are verses in the Bible that indicate Jesus had the ability to materialize and dematerialize at will PRIOR to the Crucifixion and Resurrection! Aren't they THINKING about what they're reading?)

If that "Still, Small Voice" inside is telling you to acquire this book and read it now, I am the last person who would attempt to dissuade you from doing so. But I will also point out that if you are new to Scripture study and simply looking for something to get you started and to give you confidence in the reliability of the Bible, there are probably better points of entry. If you want something brief but potent, I would first recommend the booklet, 'MORE THAN A CARPENTER' by Josh McDowell. If you want something more extensive, then go with 'LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS' by Chuck Missler. But either way, I would suggest that you EVENTUALLY make time to examine what Frank Morison has to say here, and make double certain that someday you also investigate the book, 'MERE CHRISTIANITY' by the brilliant C.S. Lewis.

As Pope Yoey O'Dogherty VII wrote in his second papal bull, "Dovete leggere tutto il libro del Morison franco e mangiare tutti i vostri spinaci; sono buoni per voi." I've been told that this translates to, "You must read all of Frank Morison's book and eat all of your spinach; they're good for you."

I enjoyed this and remembered this from years ago and was lucky to come across it and collect and enjoy reading it and the great animation.

Morrison is not your grandpa's comics writer. Your standard superhero type origin, and gets whackier from there. Buddy Baker finds a crashed alien spaceship type device, and he does something to him. He finds that he has gained the ability to gain abilities. This can only be done from all the wildlife that surrounds him at the time, so this can of course be problematic. Then it gets weirder.

Morrison is one of the gods of comic book writing, and you can see why with the animal man series. The story is great and only hints at what is to come. And I can't wait to get ahold of the next two books. The art was a little disappointing though.

if you're reading this review, then chances are you've either:

a.) already read this book and are curious to see what others have to say about it. (like me. i spend most of my time on amazon.com checking out things i already have. curiosity rules!)

or...

b.) you've heard the tale of how Grant Morrison's "Animal Man" run was either "off the chain" or "bad to the bone" or "supremely overrated" or, at the very least, the unquestionable starting point at which to begin an education in Morrison's work, as this was the book that introduced him to most of us cross-Atlantic comic fans.

here's the deal: i'm not looking to give you a blow-by-blow account of why i love this story nor why i hope you'll check it out. (don't you hate reviews that give everything away?) instead, i will say only this: as enjoyable as the first arch (issues 1-4) was, as much as i wanted to tear into Vol. 2 immediately upon finishing issue no. 9, if "Animal Man" Vol. 1 was NOTHING but issue no.5 reprinted nine times, this book would be an absolute STEAL!

the single greatest comic issue i've ever read, surrounded on both sides by exciting, intense, occasionally hilarious, and always enjoyable yarns? worth every penny! enjoy!

One of the early titles that helped Grant Morrison make a name for himself in mainstream comics, Animal Man ended up being a hybrid of Morrison's love for classic comic storytelling, his views on animal rights, and above all, a shockingly brilliant series that broke the boundaries for what could be done in mainstream comic books. Without giving too much away of what else occurs in the later volumes, the first volume of Animal Man finds low level Justice League member Buddy Baker taking a new stance on animal rights as he makes some shocking discoveries at STAR Labs, as well as meets some very interesting characters along the way, including a run in with some of Hawkman's war-like people. There's also some very strange Looney Tunes-style antics going in the middle of the story that may seem not only out of place, but just plain mind boggling. However, once the realization dawns on you just what it all means, it's just another example of the brilliance on display from Morrison. Surprisingly violent (the collected graphic novels are now under DC's Vertigo title) and poignant to boot, what Buddy and his family go through are only hints and cues at things to come. The current Mirror Master is introduced here as well, and he will go on to play a pivotal role as things develop further, as will the mysterious, ghostly man that pops up now and then. If there's any negatives about the book, it's that the artwork doesn't always stand up as well as one would like, but that's only a minor complaint. All in all, Animal Man represents the fact that anything can be done in the comics medium, and if you've never given the series a look, you owe it to yourself to see just what helped make Grant Morrison the Alan Moore of his era.

This "Bible" covers everything that is needed for JavaScript programming. Everything is very well written and very easy to understand with clear code examples and real world applications. The beginning tutorial is a great way to get beginners started then the more advanced topics are covered in the Book or on the CD with all of the examples listed on the CD as well.

This is a book that I will continue to use.

Definitively it's the javascript bible.

If you want to fine tune your AJAX apps you'd better buy this book.

It's extensive object and fuction reference does not leave anything in the shadows.

This book is worth every cent.

This is really a bible-level handbook of javascript. The contents are very comprehensive and look professional. The best thing is that the examples in each chapter really help understand the boring syntax and functions.

Pro: really good reference work for most people
Cons: 1) Not for someone who doesn't know either javascript basics or another scripting language. 2) Organization is good, but it isn't an encyclopedia and it isn't a start-to-finish tutorial. 3) Poor typeface decisions.

This book is the greatest for several different types of people. First, anyone who knows the basics of javascript, from advanced beginner to advanced js user. Second, anyone who wants to learn javascript and already knows some programming; you can use it as a tutorial, but only if you don't need much explanation about scripts and object-oriented programming.

It really is just excellent for someone who has previously learned something about one of the chapters but needs a refresher and/or more detailed/comprehensive walkthrough.

Four stars instead of five for a completely unnecessary mistake. Unfortunately, the W3c ignores people who do not have eagle-sharp vision and will fill a page full of semicolons and colons, or parens and curly brackets. If you don't have a font that clearly distinguishes these, it is a major source of semantic errors and eyestrain. The font chosen to print the code in this book could not be worse. Colons and semicolons are almost impossible to distinguish (not to mention periods and commas),and curly brackets look like thin lines with no curls.

C'mon guys. There are fonts of every type where periods and commas are easier to distinguish, and curly brackets have a distinct shape. USE THEM FOR PUBLISHING CODE!!

An overwhelming amount of information without a simple beginning. The author jumps from beginning level information to way too sophisticated so fast that it will lose any non-technical person.

At first, I was not into this book, but it grew on me, and now I'm in love with it. It is a spell on one page, and then a blank page on another for writing down whatever you want. If you like diaries or love to scribble in books, this one's for you.

This is a very good book but it shouldn't be recommended to novices without having first read Morrison's "The Craft: A Book of Shadows" in order for them to know what tools to purchase and how to prepare and handle them.
I think it was a tad bit careless of the author or publisher to include a certain spell about mirrors and the life beyond in a book clearly intended for beginners. Some doors shouldn't be opened by novices and some doors shouldn't be opened period. Be very careful about the spell you are about to perform and respect the work included in this book.

A great book to use with her book "The Craft". Not necessory, but very helpful

I found this book very easy to follow, and a great place to go with The Craft, by Dorothy Morrison. It was a very helpful guide, had a great index, everything is very easy to follow and find, as well as a great place to start, or a great reference for the more advanced practioner.

What makes The Craft Companion so wonderful is that it includes many, many simple spells for the witch to use alone, use in a bigger spell or adapt to his/her own needs and that it also includes blank journal pages so that the witch may record his/her progress with the spell and the spell's outcome. I love Dorothy Morrison's work, and this is a good gift for those that read The Craft just happen to like Ms. Morrison's work.

The Essential Jim Morrison is a well written and concise account of The Doors' history and complex dynamics. The author is close enough to the subject that important details are shared yet thankfully without coming off as a sycophant as happened in a previously coauthored book. I can recommend, without hesitation, The Essential Jim Morrison.

Fortunately or unfortunately I have read almost every Morrison book ever published. I respect Jerry Hopkins, but this book is so obviously published just to make money off of Morrison's name that it is somewhat embarrassing. There is nothing new in this book at all, just a bad rip off of "No one Here Gets Out Alive", which wasn't even that good to begin with.

What I like so much about this book is that Jerry Hopkins shows determination to present as much truth as possible by considering and reconsidering the facts that he uncovered regarding Jim's life. He does this particularly well by presenting his findings and impressions on Jim's family life, Pamela Courson and the circumstances regarding Jim's mysterious death. Hopkins manages to stay clear from idolizing and inscribing Jim with projected fantasies of who he thought Jim was, and stays close to considering the evidence that he acquired from interviews with Jim and Jim's associates, along with other discovered facts.

My overall impression of this book is that it is definitely well researched. Hopkins truly attempts to give Jim a fair representation. He obviously wants to present the facts, but not in a manner that would disparage Jim in any way. Subsequently, Hopkins manages to stay adroitly clear of purulent interest in Jim's private life while managing to be informative. This is refreshing. Hopkins does not appear to be cashing in on Jim's fame, but seems rather totally committed to presenting a well-researched biography of an extraordinary man.

In "The Lizard King" by Jerry hopkins was a really good book but there were some mistakes that can confuse first time readers..
Like on pg.80 it said "'Strange Days', the song that insisted that people were ugly when they're alone". But we all know that those lyrics come from the song "People are Strange" not "Strange Days". Also on pg.100 it said that the documentary the Doors made (Feast of Friends) came form the song "The End" but those lyrics come from "When the Music's Over". And, finally on pg.127 it said "In the summer and fall of 1989, Jim rented first the second and then the ground floor of a building across the street from Elektra offices". I wasn't aware that Jim was alive in 1989. But besides the mistakes I thougth that Jerry did an excellent job on the book.

The Lizard King by Jerry Hopkins is a very interesting book. It is filled with wild stories of being on the road, performing at concerts, and taking part in the Los Angeles party scene. The book is well written, and really held my attention. Any person who enjoys a nostalgic trip through the groovy 60s will enjoy this book. It gives a sense of how society was affected by music and the changing times.
The Lizard King clearly depicts Jim Morrison's entire life; starting with his fairly average childhood in a military family, his wild college years, and the fast paced years with his band, The Doors. All of the events that are chronicled lead up to his untimely demise, which is still somewhat of a mystery and is widely disputed. There are several interviews at the end of the book, collected from various magazines that were popular in the late 60s, which show the intellectual side of Jim Morrison. I highly recommend this book to all fans of The Doors, or anyone that is interested in Jim Morrison- the rock star poet. This page-turner is sure to captivate anyone who reads it.

i would use this book in the future as a refrence. there are few books out there that teach game programing in a way that you can not only do what the auther shows you but change it and make it your own and this book is not one of those.

so if you know C++ but dont have expereence in game programing dont buy

but if you know C++ and have experence in game programing buy

This book is a great book for beginners, probably the best I've ever read.

I like this book because it has a lot of actual game programming. What I mean by this is that it doesn't have a lot of technical stuff, it really focuses on game-specific code. It has some technical stuff, but it's left to a minimum. It does not cover any high-end stuff like DirectX or OpenGL, which is good for a beginner.

It is my humble opinion that a beginner to game programming should be learning about the game-specific coding first. The details/technicalities are a part of game programming, but not what most people struggle with--rather they are struggling with writing the actual game logic, etc.. Really DX and OpenGL are best learned as a separate subject.

This book is an excellent book, but be sure you know what exactly you are getting and if it is what you want/need.

This book is excellet for start learning game programming. If you have experience with Visual C++, this book is very easy to read. If not, don't worry, the book have an appendix for the basic C++ and Windows programming topics. The book covers topics like sprites, scrolling backgrounds, game engines and so on. This book use only GDI for drawing. DirectX is not covered in this book. Also multiplayer games thrugh TCP/IP is and advanced topic that is not cover here. An excellent book for beginners. It has a CD with all the code example. You can use the examples as a template for your own game project. It saves you a lot of tedious programming. I do it, and it works excellent!

The only redeeming factor of this book it the code works. Other than that this book is poorly put together. I have been programming for over 2 years. This book is my first serious dabble in game programming. The author early on makes many admissions. The first one is that not all of the programming code is in the book. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you are trying to learn and are unfamiliar with the widows api then this is terrible. I like to type the code up myself inorder to get a better idea of what is going on. He fails to do this. To further complicate things he intentionally avoids using OOP. For previeous reviewers who obviously didnt read a thing, he flat out says in chapter two that he will not use oop because he thinks that it would make things too complicated. I want to learn, I am not going to learn anything from this book if i am not doing it correctly. The nesxt problem is the Game engine really needs more explanation in the development and implementation areas. Its fine to show me code but explain why it should be doen that way. The programmer also uses some strange constructs that i had a very hard time deciphering. ex. if(!GameEngine::GetEngine()->Initialize(iCmdShow)). I have knowledge of programming and pointers and i still have no idea what this means or even why it was done. He does not explain the windows datatypes that are heavily used. As far as being able to do something new after reading this book, i can safely say that i cannot do anything new, except for copy line after line of code.
This book would be alot better if the author would explain what he is doing and how each of the parts of the program work. It may seem tedious, but every detail is needed if you are tyring to learn.

First of all, sorry for my bad English :

I've been programming C++ for a little while and I decided I was ready to learn more complex subject like game programming (that's what I love). So I bought that book (the French version, but's it's nearly the same book).

The book is well writen, and the games you make are fun. First thing, a lot of code (and especially the more complicated code, like the Bitmap class), are not explained on the book. For exemple for the Bitmap class, you have to copy the code which is on the CD, and you don't understand it... And some code are really complicated, like thei Bitmap class (again), and it's really strange because he writes his own Bitmap loader, whereas there's a Win32's function to do exactly the same, easier,...

But the worst thing is that the game engine is not powerfull at all. I know it's a beginning book but it is bad builded... And finally, Win32 API is not made for games, and I advise you to learn SDL, which is made for video games,...

1. The basis of your business decision-making shift from guessing to knowing.
2. The value proposition you offer to your customers shifts from a mismatch to a perfect fit
3. Information flow with your company shift from lag time to real time.
4. Your customer service model shifts from supplier service to customer self-service
5. The use of your employees' time shifts from predominantly low value-added to maximum talent leverage
6. Your processes shift from a focus on fixing errors to preventing them
7. Your productivity growth pattern shifts from a norm of 10 percent improvement to 10X productivity improvement
8. Your organization shifts from collection of separate silos to integrated system in which information, ideas, and solutions are shared.

Authors Adrian Slywotzky and David Morrison illustrate these DBD principles in case studies of Dell, Cemex, Charles Schwab, Cisco, GE, and IBM. "It's important to have hands-on, high-touch service available when needed. But, by digitizing services that don't require in-person assistance, the overall cost structure is improved, customers receive better service, and profitability is greater." "True productivity is measured by the needs and desires of customers rather than a company's business objectives." "10X productivity is important not just because it can and will help toward meeting the next quarter's earnings forecast, but because it releases money and frees it for investment in growth." "In mapping out your digitization strategy, start by asking: Which of the three areas-capital, cost, or cycle time- is most crucial to the economics of my business and my customer's businesses?"


In the mid 1990s Charles Schwab dominated the discount brokerage business. Schwab enjoyed stellar growth and was one of the most sure-fired innovators in the financial sector. In 1992, Schwab launched OneSource. In the same year, E-Trade offered a flat $14.95 commission on stock trades. Schwab's average commission was around $60 and profits were excellent. Customers wanted control over their information, processes, and services to make investments. Should Schwab go online and be exposed to a 75 percent reducing in commissions. Schwab had to decide between two paths: risking the whole company by moving to an online service online or keeping the traditional brokerage model. Schwab was willing to innovate, reinvent their products and services, and respond to it customers. Dan Leeman, Head of Strategy explained, "We created eSchwab because we wanted to learn. But we did not want to risk the whole company." eSchwab commission was $29.95 more than double E-trade. Schwab position was not price differentiation; rather, it was a response to customer's demands for speed, convenience, and ubiquity of on-line investing-value added investing. The online services were separate from the rich services provided by the traditional brick and mortar high-touch services. Customers were telling Schwab that reintegrating eSchwab into the traditional brokerage division was the right way to go. The result would be commission compression. Schwab bit the bullet and announce reintegration and a commission structure of $29.95 up to 1,000 shares, online or off. 1998, at the Golden Gate Bridge, David Pottruck handed out jackets with the slogan "Crossing the Chasm" embroidered on the back and then led them on a walk across San Francisco Bay. The dropping commission income caused Schwabs stock market capitalization to plummet, falling $2 billion. Volume began picking up and Investors recognized the volume increase and reward Schwab by investing again in the company. Schwab's market value grew to $23 billion more than double the summer low. One investor said, "I like the fact that Schwab has bricks-and-mortar building. I think it's the skepticism I have about the start-up. I'm nervous because all their money is electronic... It's worth the price to have the brand name and reliability of Good Ol' Schwab." "Where a digital presence offers speed and convenience, the physical presence offers a basis for building trust. In many businesses, customers insist on both."

DBD will cause company cultures to change and cause digital to spread to every division, department, and business process. How fast is your business? Can you make quick decisions? How rapidly can you act when a decision is made? Being fast is a matter of mindset. But being fast but wrong gains you nothing; DBD goal is marketing and customer service that is dead-on accurate rather than more-or-less in the ballpark. Rapid change has a simple logic, when the world changes rapidly, you must change more rapidly. Change is a function of flexibility and flexibility is the product of good design. The Digital model allows for morphable changes in a short period of time. Factories must be reconfigured, rebuilt, or sold. All these steps take time, cost money, and distract attention from moves that can benefit customers directly. Therefore it is crucial not be saddle with resources that are not central to the business model: case in point, B&N (real-estate building verse Amazon online warehousing), the emerging eBook and rapid electronic publishing and high speed low cost printing.

"Business with the insight and courage to redesign themselves as needed to achieve and sustain place in the minds of customers as well as growing share of sales and profits...businesses that know how to take advantage of both traditional and digital options to create and occupy unique and continually evolving position in a rapidly changing economic universe."

The new economy has also been called the digital economy. One of the most important issues facing companies today is making the transition to the new economy and having a digital business. The authors describe "going digital" as a process where the company creates a great Digital Business Design (DBD) that allows the company to expand its strategic options, thereby crafting a unique and superior business model.
The reader, in learning how to make a company digital, will specifically learn:
· Digital Business Design involves creating a value proposition that is unique to the company for both your employees and your customers. It also involves having a profit model that is designed to protect this new revenue.
· Managing bits not atoms is the key to a successful Digital Business Design. Managing information, referred to as bits, instead of managing physical assets, referred to as atoms, allows the company to sell and service customers faster and cheaper.
· Creating choiceboards allows a company to move away from guessing customers expectations and move toward customers telling the company exactly what is expected. This is all done faster than before.
· Practicing 10X productivity allows for a higher level of work and greater productivity by the company leveraging its digital resources
· Creating a digital organization allows everyone at every level access to information. This organization is fast, accurate, changeable, and shifts the focus externally.
· Continue to develop talent base is done from the top down. This is the only way an organization can continue to compete in the digital age.

The authors Slywotzky and Morrison are renowned for their inspiring bestseller "Profit Zones" in which they elaborate on 22 different profit models for businesses. In this book on digital business design they explain how to design the 23rd profit model.

Digital Business Design is the art of using digital technologies to expand a company's strategic options. It is not about technology for its own sake; it's about serving customers, creating unique value propositions, leveraging talent, radically improving productivity, and increasing profits. It's about using digital options to craft a business model that is not only superior, but also unique.

Until recently, the probability that any organization would enjoy long-term success was determined by a single factor: the quality of its business design. Today, the multiplication of digital technologies has introduced a second crucial competitive factor: the degree of its relevant digitization.

FOUR-QUADRANT "MAP"
Any organization can be mapped into a four-quadrant "map" based on its level of digitization and its business design:
* Low digitization, bad business design (Southwest quadrant - "Weak Business Designs").
* High digitization, bad business design (Northwest quadrant - "The Dotcoms").
* Low digitization, great business design (Southeast quadrant - "Business Design Reinventors").
* High digitization, great business design (Northeast quadrant - "Digital Business Design").

YOUR DIGITAL RATIO
One important aspect of moving from a conventional to a Digital Business Design involves shifting many of your company's key activities from paper-based processes to digital (usually on-line) processes. To obtain at least a partial measure of how digital your business is, complete a simple exercise referred to as estimating your Digital Ratio. The authors suggest that you measure the following processes [0-100% digital]: selling, delivery, supply chain, customer service, billing, buying, recruiting, training, finance, R&D, manufacturing, and marketing.

Moving towards 100% digital is not an end in itself. Any decision to move a particular activity toward the right, and how far, depends on your key business issues, what is required to improve your value proposition for your customers and employees, and the capital and process efficiencies of your business.

On the surface, Digital Business Design indicates how many of your business processes are conducted on-line. At a deeper level, it tells whether you've transformed the way you do business by taking advantage of the new strategic options enabled by digital technologies.

THE DIGITAL BUSINESS DESIGN BENEFITS SCALE
Figuring your Digital Ratio is a useful exercise; for many companies, it will be a sobering one. But it only scratches the surface of what Digital Business Design really means. The experience of the digital innovators shows that Digital Business Design can fundamentally change the way you do business. It enables you to make a dramatic, positive shift toward implementing the benefits:

1. FROM GUESSING TO KNOWING. The basis of your business decision-making shifts from guessing to knowing.

2. FROM MISMATCH TO A PERFECT FIT. The value proposition you offer to your customers shifts from a mismatch (great or small) to a perfect fit.

3. FROM LAG TIME TO REAL TIME. Information flow within your company shifts from lag time to real time.

4. FROM SUPPLIER SERVICE TO CUSTOMER SELF-SERVICE. Your customer service model shifts from supplier service to customer self-service.

5. FROM LOW VALUE-ADDED WORK TO MAXIMUM TALENT LEVERAGE. The use of your employees' time shifts from predominantly low value-added work to maximum talent leverage.

6. FROM FIXING ERRORS TO PREVENTING ERRORS. Your processes shift from a focus on fixing errors to preventing them.

7. FROM 10% IMPROVEMENT TO 10X PRODUCTIVITY. Your productivity growth pattern shifts from a norm of 10 percent improvement to 10 times productivity.

8. FROM SEPARATE SILOS TO INTEGRATED SYSTEM. Your organization shifts from a collection of separate silos to an integrated system in which information, ideas, and solutions are shared.

The authors make a strong point of emphasizing that being digital is not only about the Internet (e-mail, e-commerce, e-services, etc.), but also all the other great things we do to MOVE FROM ATOMS TO BITS, e.g. empowering people and organizations via PCs, networks, ERP systems, etc.

Beware that Slywotzky in his marvellous business novel "Art of Profitability" (2002) becomes more reluctant to the concept of a "digital business design" as a 23rd profit model. So the verdict is still out on the digital profit model...

Nevertheless, most businesses must continually evaluate which of their business processes that profitably should be transformed from paper-based to digital. But this may just be part of an organization's operational excellence, not necessarily a new profit model ...

In 2005, the cases in the book (Cisco, Schwab, Dell, IBM, GE, etc.) are too well-known to stimulate current readers. That is why I only rate the book three stars.

Being a business development manager, I search for relevant tools to apply the new ideas to my own business. At the website for this book - HowDigitalIsYourBusiness.com -, you'll find excellent "Tours" to two case studies and two presentations on Bit Engine and Choiceboards.

Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business

The book is about going digital and not just adding more computers or going on-line but creating a whole digital business design for your company. It takes a look at how several business in different areas have gone digital and at different stages in the digital design of several business. I like that it doesn't preach that everything will work for everybody the same way and it stresses creating a good basic business design as the foundation for creating a good digital design. It sparks ideas and guidelines more than a cookbook approach. Good for the large IBM's to the storefront from dot.coms to mom and pops.

First five chapters are on Dell's configurator "Choice board". This one is a total waste of time. Not technical, not re-invent the business. What is the audience here?

Haven't read much later X-Men, so a little bit lost for some of this. Have to revisit it at a later date. It was not too bad, and had Jean Grey (yes, in one of her lives) still alive and front and centre, leading the band. If you don't like Frank Quitely's art, do avoid this, as it is very in your face here.

The first volume of Grant Morrison's New X-Men was very good. Though it isn't the best X-Men book around (go read Astonishing!), it had a great story, introduced a powerful new villain, and found a new way to show how mutants can be persecuted. Imperial directly continues the events of E if for Extinction, with Prof. Xavier leaving Earth to contact the Shi'ar after revealing to the media that he's really a mutant and his school for the gifted means a school for mutants. Unable to understand why he would do such a thing, the X-Men, who include Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Wolverine, and Emma Frost, are left to deal with the protestors who are outside the school. If that weren't bad enough, a creepy cult has surfaced. They are humans who desire to be mutants, so they harvest mutant organs in order to implant in their own bodies to give themselves superpowers. While dealing with these crises, the entire X-team finds themselves coming down with a mysterious flu, and, eventually, they begin to wonder if the threat posed by Cassandra Nova is really as finished as they thought.
In addition to the X-Men, some more of the studnets are featured. Emma Frost's new protoges, the Stepford Cuckoos, are introduced in this trade, Beak gets a part to play, and a new character, a girl with some physiology reminiscent of a fly, is brought to the school after she is thrown out of her house. All of these characters contribute to the story at some point, and it seems that Morrison is setting them up for bigger things to come.
Imperial is definitely good and is a worthy read, but there are a few things that I must say. It seemed like there was almost too much going on to keep track of. There were numerous plots interwoven in these issues, which isn't a problem as long as the reader can keep them straight. I had a somewhat hard time remembering who was involved in which story. Still, this is a good read for any X-Men fan.

Note: this review refers to New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial. Grant Morrison's earth shaking run on New X-Men continues in this collected volume following the shattering events of E is for Extinction. Professor X, whose mind and body is under the control of his evil twin sister Cassandra Nova, is attempting to manipulate the Shi'ar empire to destroy all the mutants on Earth. Meanwhile, the X-Men are in dissary. Beast is in a coma, while Cyclops and Emma uncover even more about the mysterious John Sublime and his U-Men. Wolverine helps out a young girl named Angel who discovers she is a mutant, while Jean scrambles amidst the mayhem. Morrison really weaves an awesome story, undoubtadly the best to hit the X-Men in years. The story is loaded with twists and turns and rich in character, and he even manages to make Cyclops and Emma the most interesting characters in the book and doesn't focus primarily on Wolverine like so many X-books have in the past. The only downside of this collection is the art. While the art in various issues by Frank Quitely and Ethan Van Sciver is great, Igor Kordey's art is nearly atrocious. I mean come on, I've seen this guy's art in Cable and X-Treme X-Men and it was solid, but here it looks plain old sloppy and rushed. That aside though, this volume is worth picking up as it continues Grant Morrison's now legendary run, and it sure beats out any X-Men material to come out before it or recently since Morrison's departure.

The second volume of Grant Morrisons X-men run cranks up the action and the drama. Morrisons storytelling skills are astounding, when Cassandra was coming back to destroy the Xmen i could feel the desperation and fear of the characters. Clever plot twists are around every corner. The only reason i gave the book 4 stars is due to the fluctuating quality of the art, sometimes its good and sometimes its bad. A good follow up to "E IS FOR EXTICTION". EP

From start to finish, New X-men: Imperial is overly ambitious and overly melodramatic. The themes, for the most part, are the same tried ideas of tolerance and prejudice. All X-men comics revolve around these same ideas, but the hard part is putting a new spin on them, and unfortunately their use in Imperial felt stale, generic, and overblown.

Imperial (New X-men #118-#126) continues the saga of the struggle against Cassandra Nova, an immensely powerful being who has hijacked Xavier's body, trapped his mind, and then left to sabotage the Shi-ar empire. Meanwhile, the X-men must deal with an organization that is harvesting mutants for their organs and face increasing public scrutiny since Xavier revealed his mutant identity.

The outcome and revelation of Cassandra, her identity, her past, and eventually her defeat, came off as very B-movie-ish. There was a barrage of newer characters, and although I had read volume 1 (E is for extinction), they didn't seem adequatly explained, making me wonder if I was supposed to read another series in conjunction.

The weak plot would be acceptable, were it not for the bizarre art that accompanies it. I respect the editors for trying to lend diversity to X-men's looks by bringing in different artists, but the end-result is just not very pleasing in Imperial. X-mens' faces are so dowsed in character lines that they are downright ugly and deformed at times, and their faces completely change appearance from frame to frame.

The final blow is that the layout of the action in the frames is so cluttered that I had no idea what was going on most of the time. I had to repeatedly examine some frames to try to figure out what was trying to be conveyed. Is that Wolverine or Beast? Is that supposed to be a head? What just happened here?

I have been trying to get into the newer incarnations of our favourite gene-freaks. I must confess that I really don't care for the general direction in the New X-men series. I don't like their costumes, I don't like their "second-mutations," and I'm not even a big fan of the roster in New X-men. But it's not that I'm just a stubborn old fart who refuses to accept change. I had vastly enjoyed the Uncanny X-men novels (circa issue #400), but I can't say the same about New X-men Imperial.

"Doom Patrol" is the second series written by Grant Morrison. After picking up the first, "Animal Man," I loved his writing and wanted to see more, so I picked up the first few "Doom Patrol" issues ("Crawling From The Wreckage" was just a four-part story).

It's a very different work from "Animal Man." The Doom Patrol is a band of heroes who investigate odd occurrences, and prior to the first issue of this collection, they have been attacked and seriously wounded (I wasn't familiar with them before Morrison's run, and don't know the details of the incident). Morrison takes the pieces of the old Doom Patrol and assembles a new one, but all of these heroes have what one might call serious issues. Cliff, the "robot-man," desperately wants to be human; Crazy Jane has multiple personalities, each with its own power, but also with the attendant psychological problems; Rebis, the fusion of Doom Patrol member Larry and his female doctor and a "negative spirit," has become very aloof in a Dr. Manhattan kind of way, without his absolute power; the wheelchair-bound professor who leads the Doom Patrol has a touch of megalomania, and so on, and so on.

The villains they meet are equally strange, their adventures taking them into surreal worlds to ponder questions of philosophy and existence. Here is where Morrison really stretches his wings. Villains must be defeated through logical contradictions rather than punches (though the punches work well enough on the lower-rank henchmen). Garbled speech and imaginary friends permeate the cracks of the world. In this sense, the Doom Patrol stands between the real world and the festering mass of insanity trying to get in and devour it. It owes as much to Lovecraft as to anything else, but because it's a superhero book, it's a more positive spin on it. The heroes win, usually.

If you like Morrison's skewed sense of humor and can deal with the unfettered creations of his imagination, pick up this book. It's clever, with his trademark well-defined, quirky characters, and of course, his brilliant writing.

Grant Morrison is my hero now. Wanna know why?

He ripped off Borges, turning an idea into a real story, then introduced (literally) some of the most mixed up superheroes I've ever seen, and kept it coherent and, better, funny. And that's just the first four issues.

That's amazing.

I can't say enough good things about this comic, probably making this a largely unhelpful review. But if it helps, I can't say enough good things about very many things.

I've now read the next two volumes, and can't wait to get volumes four and five.

I remember looking forward with eager anticipation to the next issue each month and wondering what new literary weirdness Grant had for us. DC really needs to get on the ball and release the rest of the series. I was so upset when Grant left the book after issue 63, the next writer tried to be weird and different but it was horrible. I still have all the original issues and pull them out to re-read from time to time.

I wanted to like this book - I really did. A bunch of heroic freaks and misfits, cast-offs from society who are sworn to defend it - all sorts of wonderful story potential there. And normally I'm a huge vertigo fan, not only of their most popular titles (sandman back in it's time, hellblazer, swamp thing, animal man) but also their smaller one-shot series (sebastian O, the extremist)... Anyone familiar with this selection can tell I'm a fan of off-beat stories.

Having said that - the execution of the story feels...ungrounded. I think I understand what the author is trying to do but it's so far "out there" that it barely makes any sense. Again to cite Sandman and Hellblazer as examples - all sorts of allegorical, magical stuff going on but it was laid out in a way that a reader could identify with, it was coherent... THIS... it's just too far out there to make an enjoyable read. If it seems like I'm struggling to find the words to describe this graphic novel that should tell you something right there about the content within it.

It's only collection number one so maybe I need to give it a chance, move on to the second graphic novel in the series and see what happens...but so far I have to say I'm really not that impressed. Rather disappointed actually - I bought it based solely on the other positive reviews posted here.

"Doom Patrol" is the kind of graphic novel you'll either love or be completely mystified as to why others praise it so highly. After purchasing and reading the first three books based on rave Amazon.com reviews, I have to be one of the few to add my name to the later category. It's an admittedly clever idea with a lot of interesting concepts and artwork, yet it remains a surprisingly tedious and un-engaging read (a la "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Black Dossier"). I have absolutely no desire to read any more of the series and I cannot recommend it to anyone other than philosophy 101 or pseudo avant-garde art students. DP quickly collapses under it's own pretentious and surrealistic weight, skip it, and move on to the excellent "Ex Machina" or "Y The Last Man" or "Invincible" series for a true dose of current comic genius.