Open Books

What a fun read....Jenn Garbee takes us to places I never knew existed until this book. Maybe I've lead a sheltered life but I had no idea, until now. Each chapter takes you to a new and different underground restaurant, each with its own cast of characters. The descriptions of the locations and the food make you want to go find one and get in on the mystery and intrigue unfolding with each new setting. Certainly, there are a few recipes with each new secret supper, but don't buy this to be a new cookbook. Buy the book for a glimpse of culinary life you may never have seen and maybe never will. But be careful...this book just might inspire you to create your own "Secret Supper".

Given that the book begins with the admission that its co-authored by the Deputy Director of the IBO means it is going to be slanted toward IB. What I found incredibly interesting was the notion that IB found its roots in US public schools in areas with challenging demographics. One might expect the private school clientel that dominated the early years of IB in the US, but the growth in a diverse socio-economic area of Virginia, the IB curriculum struck a chord. Admitting its bias from the outset, the book presents a moving picture of the motivating power of educational reform for the sake of children and challenge rather than reform itself. Moreover, Supertest supports its claims with evidence and historical narrative that creats a warranted composition in support of the International Baccalaureate curriculum and its merits. The book illustrates the trials and tribulations of beginning an IB program and the benefits of seeing it through. Its an incredible and entertaining, in a postitive way, read that should interest anyone concered with educational reform, particularly involving the IB.

Beginning to research the IB program for my district, I purchased this book plus a few others to help me better understand the program and the benefits to beginning IB in a rural district. With the history of IB and the case studies from a few schools, this book gave me a good understanding of what IB should look like. It also gave me an excellent understanding of where IB came from and how that influences what is done today. I would recommend this book for any person wanting to learn more. It is a very positive book but not influenced by the organization. It is also an easy, quick read to give the big picture in a few hours.

Jay Mathews & Ian Hill's Supertest: How The International Baccalaureate Can Strengthen Our Schools deftly assesses the statistics about the Baccalaureate, including its impact on student chances for success in college and life. Chapters provide a history of the IB, its increasing introduction in American school systems, and how it makes a difference in the transition to college. Sounds like dry reading: but the concurrent story of one American high school that adopted the IB adds a personal flavor and human interest touch to the statistics and discussions.

"Washington Post" reporter Jay Mathews extends his appreciation of challenge in our high schools by identifying the grandest and most challenging of them all: the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Jay created "Newsweek" magazine's Challenge Index, and his writing is always approachable and easy to follow. This book maintains that special style. He writes here very specifically about a local DC-area high school and its experiences with beginning and maintaining the rigorous IB curriculum. You come to really care about the students and teachers he profiles, and to share their trials and successes and occasional failures with them. The book features an extremely effective method of integrating chapters about the creation and operation of the IB program as a whole - written by a co-author from the IB Organization - with chapters about Fairfax County, VA's Mount Vernon High School and the people involved with getting IB up and running there. And of the battles in Fairfax County and elsewhere about IB and its rival, the Advanced Placement (AP) program. In my mind there is no contest - IB is far and away the better program, especially for exposing kids to what college will be like. And there is no better predictor of success in college (i.e., graduating) than having taken at least one rigorous course in high school, especially one from IB which teaches how to think and plan and lean. But read Jay's book and decide for yourself. He does an excellent job of iterating the AP proponents concerns about IB, some legitimate - most not, and of exposing as fools or frauds a few of the opponents and their methods for keeping this excellent program out of their schools. They won, but did their kids a real disservice with their victory.

If you have any interest in bringing out what is best in our high school kids - in ALL of our high school kids - then you should read this book. The IB program is the best high school curriculum extant today. And don't just take my word for it. Read the book and you'll see that those precise words are used by the MIT Admissions' Director.

Every new endeavor starts somewhere and this book is a great place to start thinking about your organization's first online educational offerings. Author Robin Neidorf combines the basics of good teaching and instructional design with the realities of the online medium. She explores the different types of adult learners (perpetual learner vs. outcome oriented learners) and how to address them. She explores the factors that lead to e-learning success: collaborative community, availability of material that appeals to six different learning types, the ability of the instructor to connect with the students individually, the need for feedback, and more.

If you're going down this path for the first time, this book provides an excellent framework for approaching your project. The author also provides valuable references to online resources.

Highly recommended.

Teach Beyond Your Reach is a terrific resource for everyone who has to deliver knowledge from a distance. True, professional teachers and trainers who need to move their courses online will benefit from Neidorf's systematic approach to developing online instruction as well as her highly engaging and supportive writing style. However, others who find themselves in an unfamiliar teaching role -- for example, non-profits creating courses for their members or librarians delivering online information skills training -- will also appreciate the author's discussion of adult learning styles, her coverage of various distance teaching tools and activities, and her jargon-free presentation. This excellent resource is an easy-to-use, informative, and actionable guide of great value for anyone contemplating teaching at a distance, especially online. I have used it several times for course preparation, and always benefited from Neidorf's practical recommendations.

Training is part of my business, and Teach Beyond Your Reach has been both educational and energizing for me. It is the perfect companion to have at your side when you are making the leap from in-person to distance teaching. The book coaches teachers and trainers on the fundamental concepts and processes behind effective distance instruction, on making a connection when you are not there in the classroom. It is for teachers, not necessarily for techies. Chapter 1 surveys the range of tools and technologies involved, but the focus is on the teaching/learning aspects--adapting core learner-centric teaching skills to the new environment. Aside from the "distance" aspect, the book is useful for tips about communicating with learners no matter what the communication medium. College teachers, professional trainers, and organizations offering continuing education to their constituents could all benefit from this book.

Instructors interested in better meeting student needs through different teaching approaches will welcome TEACH BEYOND YOUR REACH: AN INSTRUCTOR'S GUIDE TO DEVELOPING AND RUNNING SUCCESSFUL DISTANCE LEARNING CLASSES, WORKSHOPS, TRAINING SESSIONS AND MORE. Distance learning is one of the fastest-growing learning options in the country, allowing individuals to earn degrees, certifications and gain skills without entering a classroom. TEACH BEYOND YOUR REACH covers the basics of a successful distance learning approach and shares practices and examples from successful teachers. A fine pick for any teacher entering the cyberworld.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Having read many books on the power of storytelling and on women's issues and life cycles returning to Meade's Tell It By Heart has reminded me that this book is as fresh, insightful and meaningful as when it first came out. Meade's 13 tenents that she describes as the essentails of the healing power of story and myth are as brilliantly conceived for use today as they were at the book's puliciation in 1995. This book is a timeless look into the deep well of story and its uses and applications as a healing modality. The intimate narrative style charms us and the wisdom of the book heals us and those we wish to reach through story and myth. I hihgly recomment that therapists, art therapists and tellers read or re-read this important book.

Meade's description of her heartfelt work as a therapist, community worker, and sublime storyteller is a gift. She bridges the world of the story with the world of personal suffering. By way of her own encounters she exposes the healing power of myth to rekindle love and connection. There is a deep poetic intelligence in this book and it is skillfully woven with humor, humility and tenderness. As a therapist and teacher myself, I revisit this book time and time again. I teach graduate counseling courses and this book is always on my syllabi, either as required or highly suggested reading. I can think of no better text for teaching students to work from the heart.

I love this book. As an actor and arts educator, I am drawn to books about personal stories and how people are transformed by telling them. Helm-Meade's style of storytelling is warm and engaging. In this honest re-telling of personal stories, she takes the reader on a journey into the heart and gives us an opportunity to explore our own depths of compassion. A great book for sure.

I came across this book in my search to find information about narrative therapy. Meade's book is a writer-therapist's dream -- she SHOWS rather than TELLS the reader what narrative therapy is all about. A great book to curl up with on a rainy afternoon and a fantastic teaching tool for students of any of the healing arts.

I am a Travel Consultant specializing in selling adventure travel. The "Travel Planner's Weather Guide" has been one of my best resources, when clients ask the best time of year to travel to a destination ... the first thing I do is consult my Weather Guide. I highly recommend this guide for any travel consultant or anyone who travels.

A friend flew to Mexico on a cheap 2-week holiday package and came home soaked. He hadn't known it was the rainy season. I vowed never to be caught like that. I searched for a weather book and found the Travel Planner's Weather Guide by Russell and Penny Jennings. I discovered that every country in the world is listed, as are many island dependencies. The weather of each country is described and supported by weather tables, and there is a recommendation for the best time to visit. Some large countries are divided into regions and the regional
weather is described, season by season.

The authors mentioned that they acquired 30 years of weather records from the World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climate Data Center in North Carolina, USA. They have presented this data into easy-to-read
weather tables which show month by month weather and include morning and afternoon temperatures, rainfall in millimetres and inches, the number of rainy days expected per month and the average hours of sunshine per day. The book sparkles with information about each country - capital,languages and topography. Additionally, advice is given about where
and when to cruise, trek, dive and when to go on safari.

With the countries arranged in alphabetical order I could
quickly flip through the book for my country of choice. Alternatively, I could use the extensive 16-page index which makes the search for information a breeze. I highly recommend it.

A friend flew to Mexico on a cheap 2-week holiday package and came home soaked. He hadn't known it was the rainy season. I vowed never to be caught like that. I searched for a weather book and found the Travel Planner's Weather Guide by Russell and Penny Jennings. I discovered that every country in the world is listed, as are many island dependencies. The weather of each country is described and supported by weather tables, and there is a recommendation for the best time to visit. Some large countries are divided into regions and the regional
weather is described, season by season.

The authors mentioned that they acquired 30 years of weather records from the World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climate Data Center in North Carolina, USA. They have presented this data into easy-to-read
weather tables which show month by month weather and include morning and afternoon temperatures, rainfall in millimetres and inches, the number of rainy days expected per month and the average hours of sunshine per day. The book sparkles with information about each country - capital,languages and topography. Additionally, advice is given about where
and when to cruise, trek, dive and when to go on safari.

With the countries arranged in alphabetical order I could
quickly flip through the book for my country of choice. Alternatively, I could use the extensive 16-page index which makes the search for information a breeze. I highly recommend it.

I bought this guide shortly before embarking on a recent 7 month journey all around Australia, North and SE Asia, and Arabia. I can say now that I have returned (Temporarily at least) that weather is a crucial part of the travel experience. WIthout a doubt, places where I knew the weather would be more humid, etc... stood out as much tougher places to travel in. Needless to say, I minimized this by using this guide.

In defense of "bad" weather - I will say that to get a true impression of places one should experience less than ideal (Or what most would think of as ideal) weather from time to time. In some places the changes can be dramatic - and it is different weather that forms a culture and people over time among several major factors. Certain festivals and/or animals also occur/appear outside of the most ideal touring weather.

This guide has little simple maps showing the location of a country relative to it's neighbors. Also regional maps. Larger countries are broken down also - such as the USA, Brazil, Indonesia, etc...the maps usually reflect this breakdown too.

Temperatures are given in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

The only failing of this book then is that global weather patterns are changing and that the "best time" to travel to a country is relative (Which the authors also note somewhat in the beginning). But, for what most would consider "ideal and easy" it is good.

Improvements would be bar graphs (Like Lonely PLanet or a chart like in Rough Guides - though this might make the book much thicker) and more charts showing the time of year as it relates to such events as animal migrations - as the book has for Kenya. Alhough this latter improvement might change the scope of the book. Also, incorporating sunrise/sunset might be good.

Lastly - I'm not sure if the alphabetical order of countries is the best method - sorting by regions might be more useful.

FYI - there is a newer version of this book.

This book is here to help the beginner in Apache, PHP, Perl and MySQL. If you have always fancy in setting up your own web server but have no idea of how to do it, this book is for you.

The author teaches you step-by-step from installing Apache web server, PHP and Perl to writing applications like database-enabled web applications using Perl, PHP and MySQL. He also touches a small portion of SSI (Server-sise Includes).

This book is indeed very good for beginners. However, please be warned that you may get frustrated by the typos and mistakes found in this book. Refer to the previous post, he mentioned some configuration issues which are helpful. Other than that, this book is definitely worth reading as you may learn a lot especially when you have no idea of what and how to use Apache, PHP, Perl, and MySQL.

For advanced readers, you may want to look into other books :)

I want to congratulate the author for writing such an excellent book for beginners to open-source software like Apache, PHP and mySQL. On windows platform does not bother me as it is the predominant operating system platform and easier to relate to, although I do hope the second version of this book might include a Linux-version.

The CD software includes the latest version of PHP, MySQL, Apache and Perl, although personally I think Perl should be less covered since PHP is much better. Also the section of IIS installation with PHP kind of distract the attention from Apache in the whole book.

Some typo errors in the book's codes, as well as installation errors not mentioned in the book could frustrate non-technical people: e.g. Not able to set up on my Windows XP (Home) for virtual host / Server Side Include / OpenSSL / Preventing Directory listing...also on PHPMyadmin (Chap 8), the book missed out a step to uncomment in PHP.INI the line extension=php_mysql.dll in order to get the nice result of Fig 8.30, otherwise you would contantly get this error "cannot load mysql extension'.

Overall the book is recommended to read through in one session (I spent 3 hours in one single night), then follow by practices in few other sessions on Apache, PHP and MySQL in sequence.

It has been an enriching and enjoyment experience for me. I highly recommend to all new commers in web-database application developers.

Eric Hunley's USING OPEN SOURCE WEB SOFTWARE WITH WINDOWS addresses some common issues with open source documentation, from Linux/UNIX focuses not easily accessible to Widows users to adapting these focuses to Windows environments. Chapters tell exactly how to adapt open source software to Windows environments, using four of the most popular Internet programs as examples. The focus on how to reduce costs in the process is also a welcome one.

While there is an awful lot of software available on the net, this book concentrates on software related to setting up web sites on systems running the Windows operating system. This includes the Apache web server, PHP to provide web/database interconnectivity, MySQL database, and Perl to provide more flexibility to your web sites. The CD-ROM included with the book includes copies of all of this software, so here is really all that you need to put up dynamic web sites.

I gues the question I would have to ask is that if you are using a system for a single application such as being a web server, why wouldn't you go all the way and use a Linux operating system under it, it would be faster, more reliable and less expensive. But if you gotta use Windows, here's all you need.

The Wide Open Spaces of God is an excellent book. The author uses the metaphor of landscapes to describe the various stages and scenarios of life. But it's not the analogies that make this such a wonderful book, it's the prescriptive advice the author provides which help make this a fantastic read and an even better, lasting reference.

For example, one of the landscapes is called "The Valley of Darkness." It's just what you'd expect, namely, a period of deep turmoil or unexpected/unexplained difficulty. Beth talks about our knee-jerk tendencies where we want to "light our own torches" and move away from the darkness; without giving away too much of the story here, the author advises against moving away from the darkness and her argument is quite compelling.

I read this book on a recent cross-country flight and found myself stopping and thinking about the various stages of my own life, how I reacted then and how the author's insights challenged me to react and respond differently going forward. I learned a lot about myself along the way and I'll bet you will too. Highly recommended.

I really resonated with Beth Booram's concept that life's ups and downs place us in various landscapes (i.e. the desert, the deep waters, the land between). As she goes through each of 8 possible landscapes (although she says the number is unlimited), she shows us how God uses the various terrains of each to enlarge and transform us. They don't come in any specific order and don't last for any predetermined amount of time. We can move in and out of them, we can repeat landscapes, we may never even experience some of them. With each landscape, she describes its geography and tells us what we can learn about God and what we can learn about ourselves as we experience it. Each landscape has the ability to transform us if we let it.

I enjoyed Beth's poetic way of expressing herself and describing these landscapes of life. Her use of personal examples makes her ideas more accessible and real, and her honest, developing relationship with God is inspiring. This is the sort of book we continually return to for inspiration as life twists and turns us.

The concluding paragraph of the book sums it up well..."Our search is not simply to find God. Nor is it to find ourselves. Rather, it is to be present to God and ourselves through the varied landscapes of life." I long to live my life in this manner.

Beth Booram's book is both deep and practical in guiding us toward a closer experience of God. It is soul searching for my personal devotional use as well as an excellent tool for small group interaction. Great questions. Beth seems to speak from her personal insights and experiences as well as from accurate study of The Bible. I would highly recommend it.

The author captures our walk with God in new and interesting ways. She shares much of herself in the pages and takes the reader along on her journey. The book has bible study qualities as she shares scripture to illustrate each point. I have much to reflect on after my read.

Full disclosure time: I am a friend of the author and I helped her and encouraged her to pursue the book project. None the less, I have read the book, and being as objective as I can, I find it engaging and really well realized. Ms. Root has no agenda and no subtext; the book honestly presents the results of exploring an interesting group of people. While being exposed to sociological aspects of women and car culture, one is more interested in the individual women profiled in the book. The photography is excellent, and the reproduction generally quite good. Ms. Root's portrait skills are amply demonstrated in image after image where real personality comes through plainly, confirmed and supported by the text. This is superior to many 'theme' photography books, and a wonderful antidote to those that treat women as only decorations for cars. As a man I enjoyed it; I imagine some young women will be inspired by it.

It may have started when women got the vote, but when women form adoring, nutty and intimate relationships with their true liberator (their CAR!) you're really seeing freedom in action. Women at the Wheel is a love story and an exhilarating ride.

The stories in this book are well written and highlight the strength and creativity that all women posses. I love the way the cars reflect all the best qualities of their owners, especially the when the cars are used to achieve a higher level of freedom. Overall, this is a very inspiring book.

This book is fabulous. It's peculiar that women still tend to be overlooked as "car people," as I had no problem coming up with a half dozen car-centric female friends and family members to give this book to for birthdays and holidays. From the friend who takes pride at keeping her '81 Corolla limping along, to the retired Mom of my closest friend who bought a snazzy new Honda as a retirement present for herself to my own Mom who is a car-buying-research goddess. All have thoroughly enjoyed this book (as have the Y-chromosomed who've read it)!

Highly recommended, well-written, and top-notch photographs.

This a comprehensive collection with a very low cost. This is a serious addition to a serious library.

This set of books was an interesting combination of a history of the author, his actual sermon's, hymns, etc. This recopied and compacted set has all the detail and exactness of the original set, with the minor flaw of a random missing letter in the midddle of the text, intermittently. I have not found this to cause any great difficulty. The set is very informative regarding the thought of early Puritan Christianity. It is also a handsome set and well worth the price. echance

This is a great value for the money! I am a seminary student (and a Methodist), so having John Wesley's works at my finger-tips is a blessing. It is a beautiful set and very affordable.

Great Value! These seven volumes are actually fourteen volumes, re-issued as seven, with two "volumes" in each book. These are nicely bound
If you contrast the content in these volumes with Christian books which are enjoying popularity today, you might wonder why you wasted your time on the popular stuff. Wesley changed the English-speaking world, especially the working class. His sermons are awesome. When you read his sermon "Against Evil Speaking," you may find yourself carefully guarding your tongue, and thoughts. Wesley's sermon against bigotry may help you become more tolerant of others -- this from the most prominent teacher and preacher of holiness in modern times.
You'll have to work at some of the reading, but it is well worth the effort. This set of books lends itself well to browsing. You don't have to read huge chunks at a sitting. There is a wide variety of writings in these volumes. You'll get more than your money's worth in pleasure and intellectual/spiritual profit
If you enjoy these books, you would probably enjoy William Wilberforce's "A Practical View of Christianity." Wesley's fans credit him and the Methodist movement (not today's United Methodist Church) with averting the kind of bloody revolution experienced by France. Wilberforce is rightly credited with bringing down slavery in Great Britain. Together, these English giants revived Christianity in the English-speaking world: relying upon the Bible, they showed Christians what God expects of us. If you compare them to the prophets of the Old Testament, you may be amazed at the success of these two Englishmen.

Well, I never knew that I can get used books also with almost like new standards. I am not able to find out any kind of mark or torn pages in the book on the first look. It was awesome. Book was delivered on time.
And moreover the used book like new book in such a low cost!!! What else one need??

I learned X-Windows programming from this many years ago. Please bear with me as I set up the scenario here. As an independent consultant, I was in a situation where--in order to win a juicy federal contract--I had to represent that I was sufficiently expert in X-Windows to (a) build a toolkit of custom widgets; (b) build tools that allowed users to choose from a set of predefined "color palettes" such that (b-i) only certain classes (let's call them "Brand Q") of applications followed those palettes, other applications following the standard system palette, and (b-ii) the palettes interacted with the window manager such that, when the last Brand Q application was iconified, the standard system palette was restored, yet, as soon as any Brand Q application was deiconified, the user's chosen palette was reinstantiated; and (c) build tools that enabled a Certified Professional Ergonomist, or CPE (!), to experiment with widget appearances and parameters so as to craft an optimal set of palettes and then represent those palettes in such a way that X applications would properly follow what was visually intended. Oh, on top of all that, it had to interact with a visual GUI builder called UIM/X that implemented a whole set of "shadow widgets" that paralleled Motif widgets and let you edit their properties--rather like a Java "bean editor" one might find useful nowadays.

Well, I had to learn enough to write a thick, highly literate design document within a couple of weeks, and then go out and build some 40K lines' worth of applications code (in C, of course) and 15K lines' worth of "system" code (I'd define as "systems code" software that (a) interacts with the window manager vis-a-vis iconification and deiconification semantics; (b) communicates complex data structures via interning atoms with the X server; (c) tortures strange color mapping behaviors from an outdated NCR monitor that could only physically display sixteen colors at a time [thus having to rely on dithering and related visual effects to achieve other "colors"] and offers tools for related colormap management tasks) within a handful of months.

Now, I'm not complaining about the level of effort--given the six-figure consulting fee that lay at the end of the rainbow. But without Young's outstanding book, I'd have been dead in the water. Oh, of course I had access to the O'Reilly series of seven or eight books--which were occasionally useful for stealing a handy application that could quickly be incrementally modified (e.g., I needed quick code for a dialogue box managing three green buttons, and one of the O'Reilly books illustrated the code for a dialogue box sporting four yellow buttons). But Young taught me enough about X that I was soon empowered to write my own functions to populate recursive pull-down menus; to write the internals for a widget that borrowed functionality from two other widgets and used cutesy memory management tricks (akin to mainframe-lingo "lookaside buffers") that let me sequentially stack up their respective resources; and to learn how to take advantage of some interesting internals facts, e.g., that the XmN family of symbolic constants are defined as strings identical to their names (a la #define foo #foo).

Bravo, Mr. Young! You taught me much, and you taught me well.

Once upon a time, when I moved from Windows programming environment to X-Windows.. I found things were so diffiult for me.

Lucky me, one day I went to the library and found this book. It helped me to get start with X programming in s considerable short time. The step of this book is quite easy to follow, and not difficult to understand. At least it made X more friendly to me. Although it was Japanese edition and my Japanese isn't that good. (And I will buy the English edition soon).

If you want to program in X, this one is a must, Along O'Reilly X Reference Series (which I think is the best of X-Ref).

This well written book, with numerous coded examples (that work!) is one of the best computer reference book I've encountered. Although it has not been updated to included Motif 2.1, most applications are still being written in Motif 1.2 anyway. It also includes the necessary Xt and X11 background to write GUIs. I went from zero experience with windows programming to writing full featured X-windows applications solely with the aid of this text and elementary knowledge of C. The author, who worked at Silicon Graphics, went on to write the Open Inventor library (which unfortunately is in C++). Great book!