Travis Books

I thoughly enjoyed this book- i felt from the opening page I wanted to see how the characters Nadine and Gerald would develop. The revelations for both these people when they came were well timed. A well written first novel and oh what a bonus those recipes in the back of the book were, I had fun trying them out on my friends and family. It was absolutely Delightful well done Rod and Adrienne.

This was a delightful story. The recipes at the end really are a culinary surprise. My husband and I enjoyed them...Thanks to Rod and Adriane. I don't have a lot of time to read for pleasure; I am a student. This book was a wonderful weekend get away for me... I loved it!!
- Thanks for the break

this was used for two core classes and its great. contains pretty much everything needed.

The book has been great so far, the only real issue is that some of the diagrams are labeled and/or referenced incorrectly which can be confusing at times.

Companies that admit that they have an information security problem, is the first step toward a solution. If you are one of those companies, this book is for you! Authors Russ Rogers, Ed Fuller, Greg Miles, Matthew Hoagberg, Travis Schack, Ted Dykstra, Bryan Cunningham and Chuck Little, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that will help the majority of experienced INFOSEC professionals in the industry find the optimum security solution for their respective organization.

Rogers, Fuller, Miles, Hoagberg, Schack, Dykstra, Cunningham and Little, begin by helping you understand what the IEM is intended to address, why this type of work is requested, where it could potentially be applied, and the phases into which IEM is organized. Next, the authors focus on those activities that occur prior to the start of the evaluation. Then, they delve into one of the most critical preparation aspects of doing any evaluation: assessing customer expectations, the tangible and intangible factors, that will affect the outcome of the evaluation. The authors continue by discussing the components and activities of the scoping process that will give you the majority of the information needed to do an effective and efficient job during the evaluation process. In addition, the authors next provide an overview of a number of legal issues faced by information security evaluation professionals and their customers. They also discuss the various aspects of the TEP and some of the things you want it to accomplish. Next, the authors discuss the framework of the on-site evaluation phase, where the meat of the technical evaluation occurs. Then, they discuss the network discovery portion of the onsite evaluation phase. The authors continue by covering the vulnerability scanning and host evaluation portions of the IEM. In addition, the authors then cover the remainder of the scanning, or hands-on, portion of the IEM. They also discuss the out-brief meeting that you'll hold with the customer. Next, the authors walk you through the process of categorizing , consolidating, correlating, and consulting, to develop practical and effective solutions for the customer. Then, they cover the sources of finding information and how this information can be put into a single chart that the customer an use as a road map to improving their security posture. The authors continue by identifying some type of metrics that will be needed to readily identify the current security posture. They also cover the presentation of the final report. Finally, they sum up the entire book.

With the preceding in mind, the authors have also done an excellent job of writing a book that addresses the process-level security issues along with the technical findings, so that you can improve your chances to mitigate problems before they occur. So, in the end, all of these pieces can come together to create a custom and valuable security solution for your customer!

I am a security consultant in the DC area, so I have heard the NSA IAM and IEM terms bandied about the Beltway. I read Network Security Evaluation Using the NSA IEM (NSE) to get a better understanding of the IEM side of the equation. I found the business process coverage of this book helpful, along with the general understanding of the goals of the IAM and IEM. For these two reasons you may find NSE helpful too.

The Prologue, ch 1, ch 2, and Part I (which oddly begins with ch 3 and ends with ch 6) occupies about 40% of the book. None of the material is technical, but it helps the reader understand why the NSA IAM and IEM exist, how the methodologies help clients, and what you as a security consultant owe clients when providing an IEM-centric service. These business issues, which largely sit outside the NSA's purview, are very helpful for those of us trying to provide good services to clients. I found contracting advice in ch 2 to be especially useful. Warnings about scope creep, salespeople over-promising, and setting expectations all rang true. I also liked the legal section (ch 5), but I wished it had avoided trotting out the tiresome links to "cyber terror"; cut pages 100-103 in the second edition! I did learn a critical legal lesson, however: consultants should avoid even the pretense of interpreting laws like SOX or HIPPA when advising clients. This could be misconstrued as "practicing law," which is illegal without a license!

Part II discusses "on-site" evaluation issues, which for ch 8-10 means discussing tools to accomplish the ten IEM baseline activities. These tool sections were fairly generic, and anyone with decent security experience will not learn anything new. One exception for me was Ophcrack, a recent password cracker. Ch 9 boasted of getting Unix-centric Nessus to run on Windows using Cygwin, but disappointed by providing no further details. Ch 10 mentions network protocol analysis as the tenth IEM baseline activity, but has nothing helpful to say besides mentioning running Ethereal or EtherPeek. If the purpose of protocol analysis is discovering insecure protocols or cleartext passwords, avoid Ethereal -- run a password grabber like dsniff or similar.

Part III addresses tasks done in the post-evaluation phase, like report-writing and delivery. Some of the material is superfluous and preachy, e.g. p 316 "Knowledge is individualistic. It is inherent to individuals and is acquired through the natural process of experience and learning." Ch 14 finally displays the 17 IAM (not IEM) categories, which had been alluded to in previous chapters but never explained (which would have been helpful for those unaware of the IAM). The sample Technical Evaluation Plan in Appendix B is a good way to provide concrete examples for IEM beginners.

I would like to see a second edition of NSE after an editor reads the entire book, as I just did. That editor should strive to remove as much extra and redundant information as possible. For example, there are sections repeated nearly word-for-word in ch 2 (p 40-43) and ch 4 (p 74-78). The risk triangle appears on p 246 and 383. CVE is introduced in ch 7 and again in ch 13. Calculating ROI is presented in ch 3 and again in the same words in ch 14. These duplications are the result of ten people contributing to a 400 page book.

Overall, I still recommend reading NSE. I return to the first 170 pages of the book for its best advice, such as entire chapter on scoping an engagement (ch 4). There are far too few security books that explain how to deliver a valuable service to a client. NSE addresses that issue in great detail, and for that reason I commend the authors.

This second edition is out-of-date (revise it again, Pat), but there is still plenty of useful stuff for the experienced skydiver. It's a fun read just for the historical nuggets.

Skydiving: how-to Freefly. It's all here from chute assis to carving -- the basic positions and techniques to shorten your freefly learning curve. Learn how to feel the air as you play in it, freeflying pairs' routines, skydance, skydiving, and staying safe. Top-rated skydiving book. New vertical RW Skydiving book of techniques for the skydiver who would perfect freeflying in the vertical. Xtream Skydiving.

Are you looking for a quick read? Want to laugh out loud? Need a book that doubles as entertainment and as reference for all your diy band how-tos? Well, friends, you have come to the right place. Nichols keeps this page turner light, friendly and full of do-gooder advice. As if this weren't enough, we also get plenty of cute cartoons drawn by Nichols. This is a fun book that I also plan to buy for friends.

It is a well-known scientific fact that everyone wants to be in a band. Everyone. At least, that's what illustrator/musician/author Travis Nichols was presumably banking on when he wrote "Punk Rock Etiquette: The Ultimate How-To Guide for DIY, Punk, Indie and Underground Bands."

As the book's lengthy subtitle suggests, "Etiquette" offers loads of tips to aspiring rockers from the perspective of Nichols, who has firsthand experience wading through the not-so-glamorous trenches of the (extremely) indie-rock scene. It is a refreshingly quick read, and Nichols punches up his earnest advice with enough humor and personal anecdotes to paint a realistic picture of what it must be like to play in -- and tour with -- a garage band with a few buddies.

To be sure, the book is very much geared toward the class of bands that truly qualify as "indie" -- the ones whose members hand-draw their own posters and flyers, make CD sleeves from cereal boxes, count on word-of-mouth publicity, and survive by booking any paying gig they can get their hands on (and going halfsies on gas and food money). Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger will find nothing useful here, but for the remaining 95 percent of bands who regularly lug their equipment around in a used GMC van, the information contained in Nichols' guide is invaluable.

Part One provides descriptions of several common types of potential bandmates (i.e., The Tortured Poet, The Rock Star, The Delinquent) and lists their respective pros and cons. Also given is an insightful list of do's and don'ts to follow when choosing the look and name of your group (do not wear one of your band's own T-shirts on stage, and avoid using weird capitalization in your band's moniker: "SeE hoW lame iT LoOkS?" writes Nichols.)

Nichols has played in a number of bands (Omega Monster Patrol!, the Needies) and even self-released a few albums, so it's obvious he knows his stuff when it comes to "Etiquette"'s subject matter. And the passion with which he writes about life as a small-time musician is incredibly endearing and honest. Nichols hasn't hit the big time yet, but to hear him tell it, the sense of satisfaction and fan adoration he gets from performing at a local youth center is comparable to a headlining gig at Madison Square Garden.

Information about the technical side of music abounds, with advice about the different types of recording equipment, how to best utilize your time in a studio, and even a step-by-step guide for screen-printing your own T-shirts (merchandise can be a significant source of revenue for even the most amateurish of bands, Nichols says.)

The heart of "Etiquette" lies in the very genesis of its inception: manners in music. Nichols' tongue-in-cheek delusions of grandeur may elevate the persona of a humble musician to that of a bona fide rock god who would gladly melt your face off with a blistering guitar solo, but he is still very much a Nice Young Man. A lifelong Texan, a vegan and a relentless friend to the environment, Nichols is adamant about practicing good behavior on stage and on tour.

For example, it is standard procedure to thank the venue before beginning your set and talk up the next band afterward. When you finish, get your gear off stage quickly, tip the sound guy (who knew?) and politely ask for your payment (but divide the profits among touring bands if you are the local act.)

Not everyone can be a rock star, but even if you have no musical ability, are a homebody, or have a family and full-time career (strikes one, two and three against folks like me), "Etiquette" is still an enjoyable read. Nichols also dresses things up nicely with his distinctly cute illustrations of anthropomorphic animals, which are scattered throughout.

For beginner bands whose members need some inside information on how to get their collective feet in the door, the book is a valuable tool. And for would-be guitar heroes who still need to master the A chord, it's still totally punk rock.

"Gordon Merrick fans beware! You won't find pretty blond guys making love in Tag Team Studs." - from Lamda Book Report

Once again Clay Caldwell delivers solid good writing. Good 'one-handed' reading- as are most of his titles... Captures the 'feel' and eroticism of wrestling- a nice mix.

The first two volumes of the Undead series had their share of departures from traditional zombie lore. With this third volume, the departures are even more extreme - twisted takes on the walking dead that draw inspiration from the Bible, Lovecraft and L. Frank Baum. There are a few tales that are more familiar (and quite good in their own right), but prepare yourself for some new visions of the undead. Flesh Feast continues the series' tradition of exploring new territory while delivering just enough of the zombie goodness you crave.

I was a big fan of the first book, and felt the sequel was a huge drop in overall quality. To be sure, it had a lot of good. But the good was always mixed evenly with equally lackluster stories. The third time proves to be the charm, as the stories in flesh feast have an overall quality very near that of the first.

Sit back with a cold one and get ready to laugh and learn. Smokie Brannaman takes you on a "no nonsense" ride that ends with the reader feeling a true appreciation for the content of the book as well as a fondness for its author. This is a must read for anyone and everyone who owns or is considering the purchase of a horse. Do yourself (and your horse) a real favor--read this one, re-read it, then read it again. It just might save you from getting hurt, getting disappointed, or getting taken to the cleaner by a less-than-honest horse seller. "Have I got a horse for you!" Weigh it all against what Brannaman has to say--you won't be sorry.

I liked this book because it not only addressed those that would like to own a horse, but those that already do. The book very frankly tells you what you need to do, and what you don't need to do when caring for your horse. It also tells us that we may or may not be cut out for what is necessary to properly care for and own a horse. This information is presented without all the fluff and political correctness that is usually found in other guides that are sponsored by corporations looking to sell you their products. This book is straightforward, no beating around the bush, just the way I would want it told to me.

This book grabbed me from page one.
It starts off with an 8 year old girl who lives with her mother and older brother, it is January and thier house is cold, the heat is off, they are poor. The mom is going out with her two friends to celebrate her 30th birthday and the daughter begs her not to go. The mom goes anyway, and the little girl makes a wish to 'never see her mother again'. The mom dies that night in a car accident. The girl always blames herself for the accident. She and her brother go to live with their grandmother in New Jersey.

As an adult, the brother, Ned, eventually moves out and ends up becoming a teacher and marrying one as well. The girl winds up becoming a librarian and lives with her grandmother until her grandma's death. Being left alone now, the girl moves to Florida, where Ned lives. She is a loner, works at the library and has no outside life other than that. One day while talking to Ned, she wishes out lout to be struck my lightning....soon after, she is.

I found this aspect of the story to be odd and fascinating. She is struck by lightning while at home. It almost kills her, but she survives, and is really sick, the equivalent of having radiation poisoning. She loses her hair, cannot eat, hears a 'clicking' sound in her head and becomes color blind to the color red.

The woman in this story always believes that if she makes a wish, it will come true. So much tragedy has happened in her life this way, by making wishes. She considers herself an 'ice queen', so no one can touch her, she has a heart made of ice.
I won't give anymore details on the story, exept that it is fascinating.
I liked the main character, whose name is never given.
I liked her brother Ned alot, and her relationship with him, especially in the end of the story. Her close friend Renny is another character that is well written and likeable.

Honestly at first the tone of the book is so dark I wasn't sure I was going to keep reading. Next thing I knew, while there is not even a hint of a "Disney ending" - I could not put it down.

Seeing life through the eyes of the main character was illuminating and will stay with me for quite some time!

Excellent reading!

It was difficult to find the exact descriptive word for this Alice Hoffman novel. "Spectacular" "Imaginative", "Dream-Like"...I couldn't choose. I found "The Ice Queen" absolutely breathtaking. The tale's core centers around fairytails and the realization that life is more than what you wish for. The main character sees her life in "before and after" terms. A quiet librarian, she's forced into living in an uncomfortable environment and then struck by lightning. Much like being reborn, we see her evolve through relationships with a lover, her brother and her sister-in-law. I really enjoy Hoffman's books and this is one of my fave. You many never look at the color red the same way again!

The main character, the ice queen librarian, is weird. Not without reason, mind you, but weird nevertheless. She blames herself for her mother's death long ago and deeply feels everything that has even happened since then is all her fault. She feels that every morbid wish she makes comes true and everything she loves, dies. When she is struck by lightening, it is a change for the better, tho not right away. She has an amazing torrid affair with Lazarus and her love and devotion to him is quite amazing and magical escpecially after she discovers the truth. One does not find devotion like that nowdays. This book is disturbing at times and the author and the character has an extreme obsession with death but the ending is pleasant. I also love the way her and her brother finally get over their issues together and become good friends in the end.

The protagonist of this chilly and unsatisfying novel blames herself for her mother's death. When she was eight, her mother said she was going out to celebrate her 30th birthday with friends. The little girl gets angry and says she wishes she will never see her again -- and of course the mother dies.
From this day on, the "heroine" is like an ice maiden, emotionally frozen. She makes a second wish -- that she should be struck by lightning -- and that also comes true. She joins a support group for other damaged victims of lightning strikes and hears of one survivor who died for 45 minutes and came back to life. So she seeks out this man whose flesh is so hot that merely touching it can cause second or third-degree burns. This man is so hot he can eat raw food and it gets cooked in his mouth. (Yes, he's a real hottie.) They make passionate love in a bath full of ice cubes. The man has a secret -- but when it's revealed it turns out to be pretty ho-hum.
I can't really go on with a description of the plot for to do so would be wasting my time, just as reading the book would be wasting yours.
This book has no characters and little plot. Various people flit in and out -- the heroine's brother, another burn victim, the librarian. None has any real character. The reader's guide at the end poses this question: "The narrator's two romantic interests, Lazarus and Jack, are different from each other. What does each of these men offer her?" In fact, they are completely alike in that neither has any character at all.
Hoffman apparently isn't interested in men. She doesn't bother describing them. She's not all that much interested in women either. She's interested in mood, in weather, in atmosphere, in words -- and she has talent. But this doesn't add up to a satisfying novel that tells us anything about her characters or the human condition in general.
I read Hoffman's "Seventh Heaven" and enjoyed it. It had a certain magical quality even though I thought it was seriously flawed. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this book at all. It started out being depressing and ended up being boring.

Much of Squawk!'s story is told with tongue pressed firmly in cheek. That makes it interesting and fun, but you don't get very far into the book when it starts hitting you (HARD!) that you're learning, and, for me quite frankly, that I need to learn. The book's three virtues of superior leadership are enough for any manager to live by. My team wondered what changed me, so I had them all read the book too and it's helping us with teamwork as well. This is the rare business parable that is an absolute must read!

As you read this, consider that 50% of Americans hate their jobs, and more than 2/3rds are contemplating leaving. If you are in a management capacity, you owe it to your employees to read "Squawk".

Mr. Travis Bradberry presents three virtues of great leadership in a compact and entertaining parable about a flock of seagulls. The story itself, however, is not so virtuous as the leader of the flock learns and applies the principles of great leadership to maximize the amount of food stolen from unsuspecting humans in a park. Some of the seagulls' victims are attacked as soon as they pay for and pick up their food! What despicable behavior these seagulls display.

The elegance of Mr. Bradberry's book, much like Spencer Johnson's "The Present" lies in its simplicity. This book is for busy "seagull managers" who swoop down in times of distress, squawk and dump on their employees without first understanding what the issues are, and fly away just as quickly. We are all seagull managers to varying degrees, and can also greatly benefit from reading this book.

This is a short, easy to read book that uses the story of a flock of seagulls working a food court to demonstrate three important managerial skills. The author tells the story in an engaging manner that describes three principles all managers should follow. These same principles are taught and enforced at my company (in a much drier fashion) and I have met a lot of managers who don't practice what this book teaches. No one wants to be the seagull manager (swoops in squawking, poops all over everything and then leaves). This book would make a nice gift for someone who has recently been promoted into a managerial position or a boss who doesn't like to read but needs some help learning how to manage his/her team.

Ken Blanchard's axiom, "Help people reach their full potential--catch them doing something right," first hit management shelves in 1982, in his best-selling book, The One Minute Manager. So when is the last time you've had an energetic discussion with your team members on this management virtue?

Leading your staff is just plain hard work. The Management 101 stuff rarely changes--but how you motivate and mentor your management team must change. So put the boring books and methodologies on the bottom shelf and leverage this book to inspire your troops.

Fortune 500 consultant Travis Bradberry uses the just-one-hour-to-read fable route to deliver an amusing (and sometimes hokey) story on seagull management. "We've all been there," he writes, "sitting in the shadow of a seagull manager who decided it was time to roll up his sleeves, swoop in, and squawk up a storm. Instead of taking the time to get the facts straight and work alongside the team to realize a viable solution, the seagull manager deposits steaming piles of formulaic advice and then abruptly takes off, leaving everyone else behind to clean up the mess."

At the end of his seagull story, he notes that "approximately 50 percent of Americans hate their jobs and job satisfaction has sunk to the lowest level in 20 years." We know that team members don't leave an organization, they leave a manager, so maybe it's time to get back to the basics. Some of your emerging managers will value this refresher course in the author's three virtues of superior management: 1) Full-Fledged Expectations; 2) Communication That Clicks; and 3) Paws on Performance. (They all tie into the 20 management buckets in my book, Mastering The Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Non-profit.)

To make this fun book even more fun, order one for each manager and plan a "Seagull Management Day," asking your team to block off three hours, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Hour 1: read the book at Starbucks. Hour two: discuss it over lunch at a fun restaurant. Hour 3: on your own, identify one big idea that you need to work on--and who will hold you accountable. To enhance the day, check out the author's resources and Seagull Spotter online leadership assessment.

Here are two questions for the third hour: 1) If you were writing a Management 101 fable that you could read in just one hour, what would you list as the three virtues of superior management? 2) What's worse: having a micro-manager for a boss or a seagull manager? Why?

"Squawk!" is not the first management book that has taken the story approach to make it's point. While not dwelling on clear facts and statistics in the first section, Bradberry tells us a somewhat amusing (and perhaps simplistic) story about a manager, his problems, and the need for him to change to match the changes happening around him. While the three key skills highlighted in this book are certainly important, the author does acknowledge that other skills are needed for good management as well. I looked at this book as a quick refresher for my own management skills and will actually make some minor changes as a result.

"People may join companies, but they will leave bosses", this quote (from the 2nd part of the book) really summarizes what I got out this book, and I don't want to be the reason good people leave a job.

Recommended as a management refresher or a gift (perhaps anonymously) to that "seagull" manger in your life. I also still find The One Minute Manager to hold up and should be required reading for all new managers.