Resources Books

First let me say that this book is very well written and easy to understand. It gives the reader wonderful info on MP3's and other music file formats as well as the comparsion from the standard CD format vs. MP3 format. Before reading this book, I had well above average knowledge of the various types of music files, playlist, jukeboxes, and MP3 and WMA and other music file formats. However, it did fill in some gaps that I had overlooked and I learned even more after reading the book. This is a very good reference book for the beginner. However, since it was written several years ago, it only touches on WMA's. Not that this book was written with more info on MP3 formats. Today we have in many Internet online stores the WMA/DRM (protected music). These types of music files need a newer MP3/WMA/DRM player that will handle the WMA/DRM music file format downloads, which many online music stores have. This is a great book, however, a bit historic. The MP3 players as described in this book (available at that time) came with only 64 meg flash drives and 64 meg flash cards. Now the norm is at least a 1 GIG flash player, and many MP3 players today have huge hard drives. However, this book still has good overall BASIC information. I highly recommend this book to a beginner just learning about MP3 music.

MP3's have become one of the hottest new things on the 'Net, to the delight of music lovers everywhere and most likely to the chagrin of the music industry. This book covers a wide variety of topics regarding MP3's, starting off with a brief description of how mp3's came to be, where to find and download mp3's, Internet radio stations, etc. The chapter on digital music and copyright law also contains useful information on just what it and is not legal with regards to having and/or downloading mp3's.

It also tells you what software and hardware is the best for playing mp3's and "ripping" your own mp3's. The descriptions of the software and hardware you can use are quite good. Next are three chapters describing in detail digital audio, along with MPEG audio. Then comes the section any mp3 "ripper" will be most interested in, ie converting music into mp3 form, by first converting it into a .wav format, then into mp3 and finally recording your own CD's.

The book's final chapters are a 'tutorial" on various mp3 software ripper programs like Audio Catalyst and Cool Edit. There's also some info about using WinAmp, which is one of the more popular mp3 players (and the one I use). There's also further information about related web sites, other books, even a glossary.

The future still looks bright for mp3. Not only is it a way for music lovers to download their favorite songs, it also is a way for new artists to "break through" by offering their music on various web sites in the form of mp3s.

This book offers quite a bit of good information about the MP3 phenemenon.

This is an outstanding book on Internet and personal computer audio with emphasis on the MP3 audio-encoding format. It covers the whole range of online audio from the Internet or CDs as well as streaming audio.

Starting with an overview of digital music and the Internet, the book explains why there's so much excitement over MP3 and online audio, discusses how to find music on the web, and reviews Internet Radio. The authors include the best discussion of digital music and copyright law I've seen anywhere.

The chapters on how to prepare your computer for digital audio discuss everything from what software is needed to what to watch for in selecting the best computer hardware, from CD drives, speakers, sound cards, and the cables that connect these things together or with your home entertainment system.

The portion of the book on understanding digital audio contains one of the best overall discussions of how sound and digital audio technology works anywhere. Especially valuable is the discussion of the tradeoffs involved in different selections of parameters in digital audio, such as bit-rates and sampling rates.

The book wraps-up with several excellent tutorials for basic computer tasks used for digital audio. In addition, there are tutorials for common tasks using several popular computer audio software programs.

Bruce Fries is a technology consultant & writer and an Associate member of the Audio Engineering Society. He also is the founder of TeamCom, a new media publishing company. Marty Fries is an audio engineer, technology consultant, and blues pianist. His audio engineering work includes designing and building studio sound equipment systems.

This is the best-written and edited book I've read on Internet audio and streaming audio to date. It's easy to read and explains complicated terms and concepts in terms anyone who can use a computer can understand.

Throughout the book are excellent links to additional resources, as well as an extensive index of websites on the topic of Internet audio. While the focus is on MP3 and audio files (vice streaming audio), much of the information applies to Internet radio as well.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in working with MP3 audio files, whether beginner or experienced "ripper." I also highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in how to improve the recording, playing, or streaming of audio files from their computer. Finally, I recommend this book for anyone concerned about what is and what isn't legal in working with digital audio files.

Review by Mike Powers, Internet Radio Guide, October 1999

I'm the author of the MP3 and Internet Audio Handbook and I've just finished a new book, Digital Audio Essentials, that has approximately twice as much information plus detailed chapters on editing audio, digitizing vintage records, and setting up an Internet radio station. It covers both Macs and PCs and has instructions for using iTunes, Musicmatch Jukebox, Media Jukebox, Sound Forge, and Peak.

... This book by Bruce and Marty Fries covers THE FOREST and THE TREES - concerning all things about MP3 music technology - equally well! In other words, you will no longer be lost in THE FOREST about all things MP3 because of THE TREES! The authors cover the OVERVIEW (The Forest) of all things MP3 just as well as they cover all the minor DETAILS (The Trees). ... The authors make EXCELLENT teachers: they KNOW their subject well, and they know how to PRESENT it to you so that you NEVER get lost or feel left behind! The book is VERY well ORGANIZED. It is layed-out logically and flows from one chapter to the next in a natural and easy-to-follow way. Reading this book is NOT HARD, and because it is so easy to understand, you will learn faster!

... I can't say that I knew NOTHING about MP3 music and technology BEFORE I read this book, but after having read it I feel like I REALLY understand everything I need to know to make the right choices about how to record, play, and listen to music in the MP3 format. Most importantly, the authors do not only tell you ABOUT MP3 technology, they tell you HOW to use it, DO things with it, and WHERE to go on the world wide web to get more INFO on whatever you might be interested in concerning all things MP3. The book is packed to the gills on almost every page - cover-to-cover - with web site URL addresses where the reader can further their search for information about MP3 technology!

... The book is VERY thorough and detailed, with an easy-to-follow lay-out, easy-to-read text and design, and very helpful photographs and illustrations that make it almost impossible to NOT "get it"! After reading this book, if you don't know just about EVERYTHING concerning MP3, you just were not paying attention - because the authors have left NO STONE UNTURNED! ... The only regret I had was that they wrote the book (as they themselves confessed up-front!) for the IBM-compatible, PC crowd - and I am driving an APPLE iMac computer!!! ... I recently wrote to the authors about this, and they said that they are working right now on a revised edition that will have more information in the HOW TO SECTIONS for people using APPLE computers. This will be a welcome relief!

... Even so, there is a lot of helpful mention of places and products that concern the MAC CROWD (of which I'm one! : ), and they DO agree that the SOUNDJAM MP software by Cassidy & Greene "is one of the best for the Mac." (page 69). So, even if you're a Mac-man like me, you really can't go wrong reading this book because it covers all the bases. It's MORE than just an introduction. It's a great REFERENCE book to keep by your computer at all times - whether you're a consumer interested in LISTENING to MP3s or a musician who is interested in CREATING MP3s in order to upload onto musical web sites, over the Internet, on the world wide web so that ANYONE in the world can listen to and/or purchase one's music! ... My hat is off to the authors for a job well done! ALSO: this book is FUN to read! ..

It is a very useful reference book for anyone interested in power generation. It contains general mechanical and electrical theory, design approach, operation and maintenance concepts. It has practical value as it contains broad information about steam turbines, gas turbines and auxiliaries. It is a very valuable desk reference.

I think this is a great reference book. The book is very easy to read, and to understand. I have found the book's content to be highly relevant to the field and could be used every day for anyone interested (or working) in power generation.

Power Generation Handbook is very comprehensive, covering all aspects of steam and gas turbines and generators, combined cycles and many other topics. This is a very valuable desk reference.

P. Kiameh's "Power Generation Handbook" has been an invaluable addition to the materials I need to sucessfully execute my job. I work in the electrical power industry and Mr. Kiameh's simple and practical approach has provided that extra assistance that allows for easy solution to our every day problems. More importantly, Mr. Kiameh has managed to complile useful and important principles relating to the Power industry in one handbook. I highly recommend this book for technical personnel involved in the Power Generation Industry.

This is an excellent, practical handbook on power generation. It contains clear descriptions of how power generation components are constructed, how they work and how to maintain them. Points in the text are illustrated through numerous detailed photographs, drawings and graphs. Topics include steam turbines, governing systems, valves, lubrication systems, gas turbines, bearings, seals, combined cycles, cogeneration, electrical components, etc.

I have attended two courses taught by Philip Kiameh at the University of Toronto's Professional Development Centre, one on power generation equipment and the other on mechanical equipment. Philip was an excellent teacher and his text books are similarly excellent and I highly recommend them. This text book is a valuable reference to the power generation course material.

After reviewing several books on Strategic Execution, I was continuously left with the feeling that the authors had ommitted a key ingredient. This book has convinced me that that key ingredient was "Alignment".
This book was published 10 years ago (OK, I am embarrassed that I have only just got around to reading it) but it is as significant today as it was when it was first published. Probably more so considering the rapid state of change that most companies are faced with today.
It is a simple read, and the concepts are easy to follow. What I enjoyed most about the book is that the suggestions are practical and you can take them and implement them immediately within an organization.
I noticed that one of the readers who has reviewed the book said that the book was required reading for his MBA course. 10 years on, I still think it should be required reading for any business executive.

I'm always looking for visual ways of understanding critical elements of strategy. The Power of Alignment offers a very helpful way of thinking about four important ingredients in keeping the main thing, the main thing. Vertical alignment, the relationship between your strategy and the people on your team, "energizes...provides direction, and offers opportunity for involvement." Horizontal alignment refers to the connection between your processes and customers. Taken together the two measures provide some great insight into the development of genuine alignment.

One of the most interesting elements of the book is a 16 question diagnostic tool that is designed to provide a graphic view of your organization's alignment. Very helpful!

Great book! The basic premise is that once a business has a raison d'etre, or a 'main thing', that profits are maximized by the alignment of four key business areas: Strategy, Processes, People, and Customers. Built on this premise are actionalbe ways to build a self-aligning organization. I got the sense of discovering truth while I read this book. Leadership isn't really about power, it is about responsibility. This book shows a manager at any level how to align his area to the overall strategy of the company and to the end products of the company. It shows how processes should be designed and what factors should be used to reward, recognize and evaluate employees. Great food for thought and realistic to implement.

Five Stars

Quite simply, this book was one of the best business management and leadership books I have ever read. It was well-written and expertly balanced management and leadership concepts with real-world examples of effectively aligned organizations, such as Federal Express and Southwest Airlines. This book should be read and discussed by leaders and managers at all levels, especially by mid- to senior-level executives.

In brief, alignment deals with the relationships among the people, processes, strategy, and customers of an organization relative to that organization's purpose, or what the authors called "the main thing." Alignment is both a noun, a state of being, and a verb, a set of actions. Vertical alignment connects organizational strategy with the people responsible for transforming that strategy into meaningful work. Horizontal alignment deals with understanding your customers' wants and then creating processes to deliver what your customers want, when and how they want it. Effective leadership nurtures the organizational culture that is built around and upon "the main thing," and it is this culture and leadership combination that drives and sustains self-aligning organizations in turbulent times.

The authors' analogy of landing a plane helped me to visualize the dynamics involved with organizational alignment. To land a plane, a pilot must adjust and react to multiple simultaneous factors and conditions (i.e. air speed, altitude, angle of approach, wind speed and direction, etc.) and then understand how a change in one will affect the others. Likewise, to align an organization, a leader must adjust and react to feedback about his people, processes, strategy, and customers, and then understand how a change in one will affect the others.

The authors clearly and thoroughly explained the alignment factors and conditions throughout the book. They followed their explanations with incisive questions for readers to ask about themselves and their organizations to assess their degree of alignment. Those questions were definitely a highlight of the book for they really helped to stimulate my thinking and should help inspire organizational progress to alignment. Another highlight was the appendices that contained examples of actual tools and products used and created by some of the aligned organizations studied by the authors.

The inside back cover jacket sums up why I give the book my highest recommendation: "Essential reading for all managers and executives, "The Power of Alignment" offers a new way to reestablish focus and sustained energy, and is a dynamic approach for staying balanced and achieving extraordinary levels of performance."

I found this book easy reading, concise, and presented it's basic premise well with specific examples and good suggestions for creation and implementation.

Working as a Director in Managed Care for several pharmaceutical companies, it creates a focus for any organization and a roadmap for the future(physician, health plan, pharmaceutical company) to avoid many of the mistakes and pitfalls that have already been experienced in an attempt to align with the ever changing healthcare landscape.

For those who do account management, it provides a construct and roadmap to use to optimize alignment with internal customers and maximize resources to create value and return with the external customers (....and their customers.) As the authors point, alignment is a continuing process, not a single event in time. Many companies become quickly aligned with the past, and misaligned with the present & future, and can not sustain the competitive edge because they forget this basic premise that the authors reinforce.

The concepts are basic and fundamental, but usually overlooked and forgotten in the day to day business of rapidly growing companies and changing environments.

Rathje's and Murphy's RUBBISH! is insightful and engaging. Their anecdotes about the ironies of environmental movements rallying behind particular causes (like McDonald's styrofoam clam shells), and their analyses of popular misconceptions about waste provide, great food for thought for policy makers and for environmentally-minded individuals concerned about the problems with waste and its disposal. Along the way, the authors demonstrate the utility of archaeological knowledge for dealing with current social challenges. This book is a really great read!

Great book. Rathje is a engaging figure that delivers a good story - the story of our garbage.

Highly recommended.

I never thought reading about garbage would be interesting - well, okay, actually I did, otherwise I would have never read this book. I mean that I didn't suspect the book would be so darn interesting. Garbage really sheds a strong light on the culture that generates it. Just think, your garbage tells us a lot about who you are. Future archaeologists are going to love digging through our old garbage in a few thousand years. Oh, what a story it will tell.

This is an overview of the University of Arizona's continuing trash sorting project started in 1972 to document the lifestyle habits of the American public through observing what we eat, what we use in household goods, etc., and then throw out. Socio, political and economic behaviors become evident while recording the fascinating finds in daily trash digging, probing, and quantifying.

This project also included studies at the now closed Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island in New York City where holes were bored all the way to the bottom of the fill and where the studies then took on a more ominous dimension of environmental impact discoveries such as: that the breakdown of trash, even over years, is a myth. The research showed that there is little biodegradation occurring due to compaction and lack of bacterial decomposition, so the researchers found completely intact and recognizable items from food to readable newsprint- even at the bottom of the heap where it was at least 50 years old- same type discoveries of intact trash heaps discovered in ancient Rome, Greece, etc.

Most distressing of the discoveries in the landfill was the discovery of the huge quantity of "leachate"- a toxic liquid stew, that is leaking at the rate of a million gallons a day into New York Harbor.

The book concludes with recommendations on alternatives to landfill as a means to dispose of trash plus recycling and lifestyle changes.

For another enlightening read on all things trash, there is Elizabeth Royte's "Garbage Land"- a personal story of discovery of what her family's trash footprint is and where everything including recyclables ends up- a real eye-opener and an entertaining read!

"Rubbish" is a highly academic book about "The Garbage Project" at the University of Arizona's Anthropology Department. The main idea behind "The Garbage Project" is to gain information about society by analyzing garbage patterns in various locations.

Despite being a book about garbage, the contents of the book are quite diverse. The book is divided into 4 parts. The first section, An Introduction to the Garbage Project, gives the background of "The Garbage Project", why it started, what they do, and what they hope to accomplish. This section also discusses how anthropologists use garbage to learn about ancient civilizations. The second section, The Landfill Excavations, discuss the basic theories of landfills, how the team takes samples from landfills, and discusses why biodegradation does not work in landfills. The third section, Interlude: Diapers and Demographics, I found to be highly entertaining. This section has a fascinating chapter on estimating the population of a neighborhood (as well as sex and age) based on the garbage collected from this neighborhood (a study done to initially help the Census Bureau). This section is also filled with useless information such as "There is a link between owning a cat and reading "The National Enquirer"". There is also a detailed discussion about disposable diapers in landfills. The final section, Garbage and the Future, was the most educational by far. This part discusses the serious shortcomings of citywide recycling programs and side effects people never hear about. There are also discussions on alternate garbage disposal methods, such as high tech incinerators used to generate electricity, as well as several other attempts at using technology to turn garbage into a useful product. The section and the book end with a chapter on reducing and addressing garbage disposal.

I think this book will not be for everyone. The book reads like a Master's Thesis at times, rather long and seems to ramble. However, some parts of the book are exceptional (such as the chapter on recycling or "Closing the Loop") and are really an eye opener.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in Environmental Sciences. Also, if you can manage to wade through pages of various scientific theories and facts, I'd highly recommend picking this book up! While a little slow reading at times, it is quite informative and I think a real eye opener.

This is the best book I have ever read on life and survival in human systems. I have been working with Barry's material for ten years and it has become the way I see the world. Seeing Systems captures the essence of his work in comprehensive, understandable and often humourous way.

This book provides an elegant framework for understanding our behavior in human systems. It is accessible and powerful.

A first rate professional book. It deals with complex issues in a clear, intelligent and original way. The book offers a lot of added value to both consultants and managers. I find myself leafing through it many times, never failing to find new insights. The book contains both a thorough theoretical analysis and practical tools and concrete tips for dealing with tough issues that impact organizations, such as power, accountability and the "positional trap" . The book is full of inpiring insights on the possibilities of making organizations more robust through empowering people. After reading the book, we cannot help it but seing systems in a new and refreshing way.

Seeing Systems is a brilliant book; Dr. Oshry has here succeeded in
relating a set of practicable principles in a highly readable and
entertaining fashion. The particular charm of Seeing Systems -- what
distinguishes it from other books of its type -- is in its pedagogical
style; it is designed not only to describe, but to teach the theories
which are there presented for inspection. The teaching itself is
twofold; the first part (which Dr. Cummings seems to think should be
the only part) consists in explaining an abstract theoretical model
for systems thinking. The second part is phenomenological, in that it
seeks to help the reader identify and sympathize with a range of
experiences that occur in system life. To this end, Dr. Oshry employs
evocative description and sympathetic re-enactment to great effect.
The result is that the contents of the book are easiest to remember
when that of other books are easiest to forget -- that is, when one is
caught up in a whirlwind of intense experiences.

The phenomenological part of the book manifests itself in the
distinctive manner of phenomenology; as winding and discursive. There
is no remedy for it, other than to stop doing phenomenology. If it
were not phenomenological, Seeing Systems would be as Dr. Cummings has
described it -- a mere shadow of "Systems Thinking: managing chaos and
complexity". Its prosody would be direct, as direct as it was dull;
its illustrations quite businesslike, and forgettable. It would never
be lightened with something so childish and so right as a mob of black
dots at a committee meeting. It would be a primly respectable little
book, fit to grace an executive desktop and be charming until opened.
And I for one should not read it.

Thankfully, Seeing Systems is not such a shadow. It deigns to stay
charming even after it is opened. It is not like other books in the
same field; but those books have been written already, and by other
authors. It is a book unto itself, and is all the better for it.

I read this book about 6 years a go as a part of my graduate program on organizational learning. My reaction at that time was, "Wow! I feel as if I was blind and Now I See!." It was like I gained a secret lens through which the organizational behaviors were making more sense to me. I felt so enthralled with the book, I called the number on the back of the book to inquire how I could explore, experience and learn the Seeing Systems concepts further. I have not done that before or since. 6 years later, I still feel Barry Oshry's teachings are one of real gems in understanding organizations and their behavior mysteries. I have integrated these concepts into my own ways of thinking and being and use them to generate partnerships for impact. I most highly recommend this book to anyone who works with organizations including executives, organizational developers and change agents.

There are almost as many "real" Alaskas as there are native-born Alaskans, but none is more real than the original Alaska: the land, as it was before the mechanized incursions of modern man. Seth Kantner was born in that Alaska and has lived his life there and in this book he writes about it with a precision, grace and beauty unmatched by any other prose I've ever read about the state, and state of mind, that Alaska is. And I say that as one who has tried to do the same.
--Joe McGinniss
author, "Going to Extremes"

Seth's book was powerful and overwhelming. There are brushes with death, moments of wild abandon, tales from many generations--along with some great pictures. Even tho' I live in Alaska, Seth's description of his everyday life is completely foreign to me. I've hunted caribou. I've picked salmon from a gill net. I've ridden a snowmachine and spent the night outside when it's -20F. But Seth was born and grew up in a sod house and in a special harmonic relationship with the wild world outside his front door...with the caribou, the dogs, the occasional visitor and the river. Me? I've always had an address on the house, lived on a paved street and enjoyed daily mail service, a telephone that works, city water and two cars in the driveway. Read this book and learn more about the Alaskan wilderness. It's an example of that wise saying: "You don't know what you don't know." Wow.

I'll be honest; I tried to talk Seth out of writing this book; told him he should get on to the next novel and can this essay business. But Seth was stubborn, and, like a porcupine that had its mind made up, kept shuffling down the trail. Well, I hate being wrong, but I'm used to it by now. This is a fine, fine book in several respects. First, it's a series of sharply focused, vivid, evocative snapshots of of life in arctic bush Alaska--some from the rapidly fading past, some from the present, and some toward the southern horizon, where the sun keeps reminding us that the future, for better or worse, keeps coming. By the way, I wasn't talking about the photos when I said 'snapshots', but the essays themselves. The color images round out and anchor the text, and are a beautiful, understated addition to a book that isn't quite a memoir, not quite a collection of essays, and not quite a nonfiction narrative--but manages to blend and shift between these three forms in unique, original fashion. What I like best about Shopping For Porcupine is its wry, totally original voice--like the book itself, a blend of colloquial simplicity, wry insight, sharply etched imagery, and elevated, poetic elegance. Seth spent a bunch of time sanding and polishing these words down, and while the blisters don't show, the sheen, elegant and rich as the patina of fossil mastadon ivory, does. Just the writing is enough for me, and would be enough for anyone who believes that the story is merely a convenience to the words themselves, where all meaning, art, and emotion lie. If you're a fan of Alaska writing, or writing at all, you owe it to yourself to read this book. And though you don't owe it to Seth to buy it, do it anyhow, and spring for the hard cover. This is the kind of book you'll keep. Nick Jans

If you are looking for a beautifully written book with wonderful photographs of Alaska, I highly recommend: Shopping for Porcupine: A Life in Artic Alaska, by Seth Kantner.

This book is part autobiography and part a historical portrait of Alaska and its people. Seth Kantner was born in 1964 and spent most of his life in Northern Alaska. His story begins with the arrival of his father, Howard Kantner, to the remote Arctic of the 1950s and ends with him as a grown man settled in the same landscape. The story is told through a series of moving essays and vivid photographs. The subjects range from family histories to hunting stories and celebrations of people and places.

This book is # 2 for the author. His first book Ordinary Wolves received great reviews, and I look forward to reading this book as well in the near future.

Seth Kantner's writing has a way of awakening something inside me that I don't even have words or ways to reach on my own. His storytelling prose is thoughtful, true -- it's more than words -- it's like an unnamed emotion all its own.

"Flower of the Fringe," is one of several chapters in the book that highlights characters in the writer's life...Kantner connects you with these people, beautifully captured and introduced to you in ways rarely reached in writing.

This book will not disappoint...it's creative nonfiction at its best: entertaining, intimate, eye-opening, introspective, refreshing...and true.

Finally a book that incorporates two powerful concepts: scorecards and six sigma. I have worked on various projects with the aim to achieve operational efficiency and at the same time I have been part of various meetings and discussions to find best ways to "empower" the staff to help them understand, align and achieve corporate goals. Both these efforts have largely been fragmented. The measurement tools to achieve both these goals have, at best, been mediocre. This book provides a comprehensive, more robust and practical approach to bringing the two concepts together.

This book gives a pragmatic approach to not just evaluating performance but also provides easy-to-use tools that help predict performance and profitability. This book provides a much needed scorecard methodology for the 'new' globalized world. A must-read for any business leader.

Praveen, I just have to buy you a cup of coffee or a drink one day. I am just finishing your book, "Six Sigma Business Scorecard " and have to say that I haven't been this riveted to a business book since "The Goal". Books like this for me have been far and few between.

I am writing to congratulate you for your outstanding work on the book you have written about the Six Sigma Business Scorecard. I have spent the past week reading it, and I've realized what a fantastic tool it is.

I am a Six Sigma Intern, and I work at Recofarma, a Concentrate Plant of the Coca Cola Company, located in Manaus, Amazonas - Brazil. I was trying to create a Massive Communication Plan for Six Sigma within the company and one of my ideas was to create a Scorecard for Six Sigma, then I looked for related material at Amazon.com and your book appeared on the top of the list. It surely was a great investment.

Finally, a pragmatic approach to developing a Business Scorecard that captures the profitability proposition through periodic measurement of critical performance. The critical thinking used to construct and evaluate each element of the hierachical measurement structure provides a keen insight into the contribution value of each functional area of the business. The concise step-by-step approach in building the overal Business Performance Index provides the guidance necessary for immediate implementation by small or large enterprizes.

I have read a few hundred "non-fictional" books over the years for my MBA, for quality, etc, but I have to tell you that this book about the use of balanced scorecards is the best business related book that I have ever read, and I feel that every CEO should completely absorb it to utilize its "pertinent" applications that are applicable to their business processes, thus institutionalizing the process metrics' continual improvement concepts of ISO/TS 16949:2002 and ISO 9001 in all types of firms, including those that are not automotive suppliers!- Bill Cooper, Global Quality Systems Senior Manager, Lear Corporation

Sach's book has been used here at our local high school for the last several years, when one of the city's juvenile probation officer brought it to identify a piece of school graffiti. Bought several copies for the teacher's lounge / library. A welcomed addition! Great illustrations, author knows his gangs. Excellent chapter written just for schools----includes an assessment tool to evaluate gang infiltration within your own school. Would highly recommend for anyone who comes into contact with gangs.

Sach's book has been used here at our local high school for the last several years, when one of the city's juvenile probation officer brought it to identify a piece of school graffiti. Bought several copies for the teacher's lounge / library. A welcomed addition! Great illustrations, author knows his gangs. Excellent chapter written just for schools----includes an assessment tool to evaluate gang infiltration within your own school. Would highly recommend for anyone who comes into contact with gangs.

A very well researched book, by a knowledgeable author. A few things were out of date, but with the fluidity of gangs, turf wars, etc. that can be expected. More books should be available for people to inform themselves, like this one.

I found this book to be an excellent resource about gang identification and what society and individuals can do to address the gang problem. Friendly, easy to read format and lots of useful illustrations. Most gang books I've found in libraries are theory, this is a "hands on" publication which reads easily. Books like 8 Ball Chick is good reading to find out WHAT gang members do and how they think. This book is useful to IDENTIFY gang members in the schools and neighborhoods. Also had an interesting section of how to decipher graffiti.

This book is excellent for any parent, teacher, counselor, law enforcement officer, attorney or corrections officer. I recommend it highly. If you are located in the mid-west this book will be of particular significance. Not only does this book adress the gang problem, it shows drawings and photos of gang symbols, jewelry, attire and the like. Wondering if your kid is a gang member? Read this book! Bravo to my colleague Steve Sachs.

This book is special in that it adds empirical support for the authors' business hypothesis. However, their ideas themselves are not revolutionary. Rather they organized and framed a lot of the ideas that today's business leaders already know and practice.

I suppose that the book is in the tradition of academic research paper rather than overblown business hyperbole. As with any academic oriented publications, they make less than interesting reading, but valuable nevertheless.

Survival of the Smartest is reviewed - very positively - in this month's Fast Company. And having now read it I see why: clear, insightful, and packed with great examples for high tech managers working to improve the performance of thier organizations.

By examining the information managment practices of a sample group of short life-cycle high tech companies, Mendelson & Ziegler create a valuable framework to evaluate your company's ability to manage information in the information age. Also chock full of terrific soon-to-be popular industry buzzwords, including: "Decision Architecture," "High/Low IQ Company" and "Internal Information Dissemination." Use 'em while they're hot.

Survival of the Smartest is one of those management books that made its way through the academic world (or so-called the Ivory Tower) into the real-world. In contrary to what is expected, it does a very good job in connecting these two seemingly unrelated fields.

The novel concept, "Organizational IQ", was developed theoretically by Prof. Haim Mendelson and published in some leading academic journals such as Management Science and Information Systems Research. This book summarizes the results of those publications in an easy-to-read way. Organizational IQ is defined as "...a quantifiable measure of how organizations assimilate information and put together their decision and information architectures." It is argued and proved empirically in the book that High-IQ organizations on average are more successful than Low-IQ organizations. A company's organizational IQ describes how well the organization performs along five dimensions:

(1) External Information Awareness
(2) Effective Decision Architecture
(3) Internal Knowledge Dissemination
(4) Organizational Focus
(5) Information Age Business Network.

Mendelson describes each of these dimensions in detail and supports its arguments through the use of case studies from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Acer, British Petroleum (BP), and Modex (a real company with a disguised name).

Although, the main focus of the book is on the use of Information Technology applications along these dimensions, an average reader will not have any difficulty in understanding these concepts if s/he knows what an Internet or Intranet is used for.

The book can be recommended as a supporting textbook for Strategy, Marketing, or Information Systems courses, especially in the graduate level. Whether you are in academia or in business, it is one of the books you should read if you are interested in how business should be done in the Information Age. Forget about the past Industrial Age books, they are already history... Chrysler has learned it in its own way (page 100 in the book)

PS: One may think that I am too generous in rating the books I comment on. However, one should keep in mind that among the books I have read, only those that are worth reading can make it here-my way of decreasing the information overload for Amazon.com members :)

The importance of this book can be judged by any employee asking why can't we work in an organisation which is better developed on the author's 5 Organisational IQ factors:

1 EXTERNAL INFORMATION AWARENESS, ie each part of our organisation captures external information (customers, technology opportunities, competitors' actions) quickly and accurately

2 EFFECTIVE DECISION ARCHITECTURE, ie in our organisation decisions are made at the right level (by the people with the best information and perspective). As a result decisions : are made quickly, have high quality, instill ownership and accountability

3 INTERNAL KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION, ie each part of our organisation knows what it needs to know when it needs to know it. Effective information flows 4-dimensionally: Horizontal, cross functional Top-down, org-wide goals and priorities Bottom-up, operational challenges and opportunities Learning, review over time of all of above

4 ORGANISATIONAL FOCUS, ie organisation systematically fights overload and complexity by: Limiting scope of the business; focusing on core competences; simplifying processes

5 CREATING AN INFORMATION AGE BUSINESS NETWORK, ie Organisation maximises the value of eternal partnerships by applying the above 4 High IQ factors to the entire business network

Would love to share experiences with anyone working or reading up on how to improve organisations IQ factors

chris macrae, chief infomediary, brandknowledge.com e-mail wcbn007@easynet.co.uk

This book is exceptionally well-organized and comprehensive.

I am a volunteer tutor for GED students. Their needs and backgrounds vary greatly. Many students do not read well. They typically have gaps in their knowledge of phonics decoding. Many have not learned to pronounce words correctly.

There are a few resources for adult learners. They cover phonics but are targeted for those who have never read. This book has a much better set of words lists for each sound. I have also used the word lists for ESL students who are working on phonemic awareness.

The syllabication rules are helpful. These rules are usually not discussed in other books. The ESL students benefit from these, too.

The author's list of other resources (ex. The Wilson Reading System) has also been very helpful for me.

wonderful resource and word lists are great; good to adapt to all ages;great activities and games;

This book provides a resource for teachers of phonics or struggling readers. The presentation is user friendly so busy teachers will want to use it. This has excellent information on phonemic instruction. It has great resources like lists of prefixes, words, roots etc. This book is a tremendous time saver.

This book is an excellent resource for teachers who teach reading to all readers, but especially those who are struggling to understand "the code."
Word lists are very helpful, as are the activities and teaching strategies presented. Only wish there was an index!

Teaching Phonics And Word Study In The Intermediate Grades by WILLY BLEVINS

Author Willy Blevins has created a very sophisticated introduction to Phonics, but this books is also a WORD STUDY TEXT, emphasizing:

p. 51 Most Frequently Used Words in English Language.
p. The Dolch Word list (250 words)
as well as words classified according to suffix, prefix and word types, and Greek and Latin word Roots.

The Phonics instruction is in the first 50 pages and it is very complete. The entire book is designed with large pages and there are a number of exercises in the book that can be cut out or photocopied.

The book is directed at the elementary school student between the Third Grade and Eighth Grade. I got my copy to use in tutoring a single adult male from Mongolia.

I looked at nearly 20 books on this subject in the store, and bought several. This is the best of all the books I found. It is a complete course within itself.