Travis Books

Excelent material to start to learn Inventor, is easy to undestend.

Luis Villa

An excellent book, yes it may have some info that can be accessed from the help, but it goes far beyond that, and the advanced section of the book does a great job in exploring the details of the features particular to Inventor, don't forget the tutorial CD that comes with the book, it is another complete training manual in itself. I read the whole book and I did all the tutorials, I am including it in the curriculum of my students, and I recommend it to anyone serious about learning Inventor.

The main material of this book is a rehash/dryrun and listing of what the Inventor user interface and menus do in each chapter. There is not much content on how to actually use the concepts and techniques of Inventor to do real stuff. The authors have decided to put all that stuff on the CD. They have some kind of a compiled html file that walks you thru the techniques of each chapter with busted exercises. The CD is very poorly made with lots of chapters entirely missing and incomplete exercises in many other chapters. The program constantly crashes. I am surprised that a respected name like Autodesk would put out a book like this. That is my two cents worth.

If you want a detailed analysis of Citrix Metaframe XP then don't look here. On the other hand if you had bothered to actually investigate what you were actually buying to study Citrix Metaframe XP you would not look here anyway because this book about CITRIX METAFRAME 1.8.....which is blindingly obvious if you look at the exam numbers or were to investigate the description and editorial review written on this very page.

The purpose of this book is to get you through the exams it talks about not the ones for Citrix Metaframe XP (which it never on any occassion states that it does). This book does what it says is does in a five star way but of course you should...NEVER...rely on just one source for your studies.

To buy a book about one subject and to complain about it not covering another subject, and then to mark it down because you have made the mistake in buying it could make you look somewhat of a computerised fool who should not be allowed near a keyboard. Apart from that its jolly bad manners, what!

If your doing the.....and I'll say this very slowly.....CITRIX METAFRAME 1.8 EXAM TRACK #1YO-910/920/930/940/950 then this book is a good and straight to the point read. But beware its not about Cisco, its not about Novell its not about Cheeseburgers, Dolphins, Aliens or good old Mom and Apple Pie, its about....just simply, Citrix Metaframe 1.8. Now I hope that's clear....to everyone......Caveat Emptor!!!!!

I probably should have known better, but I trusted the glowing reviews. I've successfully used Exam Crams in the past but beware - THIS BOOK IS NOT ABOUT METAFRAME XP.

I guess if you want information on 1.8 it might be a good purchase.

It has been recently established that the CCEA is among the highest paid Microsoft Engineer. More importantly, the need for well trained Citrix engineers is growing rapidly. This book will provide the information needed to pass the advanced Citrix Metaframe 1.8 exams-not the current technology.

Some creative and really different techniques here, but not sure yet I will produce any of these. Still, good for ideas,

Decades ago I joined a quilting bee, designing & sewing king-size quilts for auction. When our lives split us apart we wanted smaller ones on which to work by mailing back & forth - enter this charming book. Stunning little quilts ranging from log cabin, hexagon, Somerset star to crazy patchwork with step-by-step instructions, alternative design suggestions & clear, exquisite photos. A must for quilters & miniature enthusiasts................

This book has instructions for 24 quilts with only 4 I would consider making -- and 2 are similar to quilts in other books. I was quite disappointed in the book and do not consider it to be worth the cost.

The books focus is on SQL Server 2000 and its specific features that make it such a valuable database platform for any size organization. The books intent is to get administrators and developers up and running with the many features of SQL Server 2000 from creating database to working with Analysis Services. The art and science of "designing" databases is not specific to SQL Server and I would recommend "Designing Relational Database Systems" by Rebecca Riordan if your looking for beginner-intermediate level material on general database design. I hope the book helps in your endeavors with SQL Server 2000. Good luck.

This book has nothing to do with DESIGNING sql 2000 databases. It is simply an administrative guide to sql 2000 - Ch1: SQL Server Overview Ch2:Installing and configuring ch3: Scalability and Availability ch4:Designing and Creating dbs Ch5: Security ch6: Admininistration and Active Directory ch7: backup and recovery ch8: english query ch9: import/export data Ch10. Analysis server (olap) ch11:XML ch12: Replication ch13: programming tools Ch14: Performance Tuning The only chapter that has designing of dbs, is ch4 which mainly deals with filegroups, autogrow features, etc. Nothing about design. If you want a good admin book for 2000 buy this, otherwise look elsewhere for a desgin book.

This book is detailed and well written. I have a lot of SQL books, and I found this one to be an excellent source of information. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in building databases with SQL Server 2000.

The book is a good read, and has the script to the movie contained within Flatland: The Movie I liked the movie, but I liked this other movie better: Flatland the Film

I thought I was ordering the movie. But it was a book about the movie. I like books but not this one.

This version of the book has all the original text by Edwin A. Abbott and some really cool graphics from the movie. There are two versions of the movie, the version with Martin Sheen is far better.

The story "The Day of the RFIDs," alluded to in the Daniel Miller review as a highlight of the FUTURE WASHINGTON collection, was actually written by Edward M. Lerner.

Future Washington contains 16 stories from a variety of authors most usually not found in anthologies. The stories posit many different futures for the DC but most are dark and distopian in one way or another.

"Primate in the Forest" by Kim Stanley Robinson, "Hothouse" by Thomas Harlan, "Civil Disobedience" by Joe Haldeman, all have the area suffering from one degree of global warming or another as background.

"Ignition" by Jack McDevitt gives us an idea of what can happen with fundamental religion take over. Paranoia takes over a computer geek in Edward M. Lerner's "The Day of the RFIDs" but is he really that paranoid?

Jane Lindskold in "Tgers in the Capitol" has the original designer of the capitol area who is not all that happy with what was done with his designs. "Hallowe'en Party" by Nancy Jane Moore is basically directions and instructions for a future party in the DC area (the directions are only slightly off from those you'd get if you lived in this security conscious area now).

"Agenda" by Travis Taylor, "A Well-Dressed Fear" by B.A. Chepaities, "The Lone and Level Sands" by L. Neil Smith, "Hail to the Chief" by Allen M. Steele, and "The Empire of the Willing" by Sean McMullen, all deal with politics and intrigue on one level or another.

"Mr. Zmith Goes to Washington" by Steven Sawicki has my favorite aliens (from sfrevu.com's Damned Aliens Column) drop in for a Senate Hearing. "Indiana Wants Me" by Brenda W. Clough gives a look at what could happen to the DC area if Congress moved elsewhere. "Human Readable" by Cory Doctorow deals with the concept of who has access to IT and will it be economic status blind. "Shopping at the Mall" by James Alan Gardner give us a view of what would happen if Americans just disappeared one day.

All in all, there are stories to make you laugh out loud, shake your head in frustration, dispair, and agreement. Those that make you think maybe you should pay just a bit more attention to what are leaders are doing FOR/TO us in DC. Every story is strong with character, place, and plot. It's a good buy.

I was kind of disappointed with this book, honestly--the stories are very hit-or-miss. The best one is by Kim Stanley Robinson, but it's an excerpt from a novel, not written for this collection--probably better to just read the novel. Another highlight is by Cory Doctorow, exploring the use of RFID tags and the Dept. of Homeland Security, although I felt like going up to him and whispering "Your ideology is showing". As for the others, some of them are amusing (particularly one near the end in which Democrats and Republicans have devolved into warring tribes--it reads like it was co-written by David Broder and Hunter S. Thompson), but only a few make a serious attempt at exploring an interesting future. More common are relatively shallow attempts at parody, such as one story in which Indiana real estate agents plant a nuclear bomb in DC and exploit the chaos to move the capital to Fort Wayne. Overall, the book doesn't have enough worthwhile material to make it worth buying. Check it out of a library for a few of the stories, but don't waste your time or your cash.

Melanie, Melanie, Melanie,

What is going on here? You are on your summer vacation, and instead of enjoying life at the beach with your son and your paramour, you actually manage to get asked by a murder suspect to help in finding the murderer. You try to beg off, but Alicia insists and you are such a sucker that you take over for the police (speaking of which, were are they in this story?) and start asking questions at each dog show that you attend over the coming weeks. This leads directly to another murder and then you solve the mystery after being threatened yourself. What a way to spend a summer vacation, eh?

This story line plods along. There is no excitement and nothing seems to happen except for descriptions of dog shows and what happens at them plus a few descriptions of some unusual dog breeds plus a lot of conversations with people who are part of the dog show scene. There are some red herrings that the sleuth falls into chasing and some mildly interesting twists in terms of how sexually active the professional dog handlers appear to be (everyone is having affairs with people who are NOT their spouses).

The mystery, when it is eventually solved, involves someone who is determined to get his way and develops this really strange and really weird method of getting the people he is interested in to convert to his way of thinking. To my way of thinking, this was a very weak point for this book as it was so convoluted and unbelievable!

In other Melanie Travis books there was always some humor and some interesting twists in her virtual life that raised the overall book score. This one is totally bereft of anything like that. Too bad.

I am hoping that this is a momentary aberation and that future volumes will be better.

I love this series of books! I'm not a dog person at all. But these books are written in such a manner that you can not help but drawn into a world which is like no other. I wowed my friends this year when I started talking about Standard Poodles during the Westminster.

When I read this author for the first time I was looking for a writer who writes like the Cat Who series. In Laurien Berenson, I found a writer who is more serious, better prepared, and knows the show dog world. I think she is getting better with each book.

The much-balyhooed Wildcats revamp by Scott Lodbell and Travis Charest was quickly forgotten when Charest's deadline woes made the book notoriously late. However, once fans look beyond that particluar issue, they will find a very entertaining story with excellent art (and not only by Charest). Although this isn't as good as the title would later become under Joe Casey, it's a more than adequate introduction to the updated Wildcats world and a perfect jumping on point for non-WildC.A.T.s fans.

Travis Charest's Run on WildCats. Awesome art.

Normally, I wouldn't have considered buying a WildCATS book, but since this particular one advertised that it had art by Travis Charest, I couldn't resist. The guy it talented!

Of course, it turns out only two and a half out of five (or is it six?) of the stories in the book are drawn by 'ol Travis, the rest being done by fill in artists who have no where nears the same level of talent.

That, and if you actually bother to read the stories you'll find that the compilation seems pointless as nothing is resolved.

Terrific photographs and illustrations and nicely indexed. This book has a unique perspective. The Black population of Chicago is a major force in the city and this book depicts their history through personal anecdotes.

This book, I feel, was not as good as the critics said it was. I
It just did not interest me the way I thoght it would. I did enjoy learning about the history of blacks in Chicago. It was boring to me because of the format in which it was written. The book just did not click with me.

The brief book is a real gem for those looking for ideas on how to best do church in a changing culture. I am the pastor of a young church in New York City and we studied this book as a team. The chapters are brief, tied directly to local churches who are doing it and full of in your face questions to get you thinking. The chapters on 'team teaching' and 'church the city' (vs. being one church in a city) were very challenging. My only complaint - the analysis was too brief.

If you are a pastor or on staff of a new church, my advice: Buy this book, read it with your staff, follow the web links and send Dave Travis a donation so he will keep doing this research for us!

My questions below relate to items I believe need further explanation in light of the claims made in the book. The authors present nine categories claimed to present `clutter' or `box baggage' for modern churches. These are the things the authors believe should be left behind in order to embrace `innovation'....

1. Hierarchy - What does a hierarchy-free church look like? Would elders/deacons constitute hierarchy?

2. Structure/Organization - What is a modern day example of an effective, unorganized worship service?

3. Property/Location - Which contemporary churches exist with no property or location?

4. Conflict - Not sure what this means.

5. Centralized Control - If there is no `centralized control' does this mean there is no headship?

6. Ordination - Is ordination when a church body examines a person's beliefs and qualifications for ministry in light of scripture?

7. Clergy - As far as I know there are no clergy-free churches in my area. This one is difficult to imagine.

8. Seminaries - I guess this one is self-evident. If there is no ordination, control, or clergy there would be no need for seminaries.

9. Denominations - Is to abandon denominations the same as abandoning doctrinal statements? If so, what would differentiate churches if not their core beliefs?

What does it mean for the church to `move forward'? Is innovation simply moving away from the things the church has always done? What are the foundational elements of the church, which if left behind would leave the church with no real effect? I wish the authors had attempted to identify those things which can and should never change.