O Books

Get the revised edition if you can. It has three band sampler projects at the end that are worth the cost of the book in themselves. No stitcher of counted thread work should be without this book. Illustrations are large and clear, and there is plenty of helpful advice.

This book is out of print and extraordinarily rare! If you find a copy, snap it up at any price. It was published ten years ago by Symbol of Excellence Publishers and is the absolute best cross-stitch book I have ever owned (which is saying a lot - I have shelves of books, magazines, and patterns). Darlene O'Steen, considered one of the best - if not THE best - needlework expert and instructor in the country has assembled instructions for dozens of unique and interesting 17th century stitches that will transform your needlework and the way you use and look at threads and linen. The book is spiral-bound, printed on very expensive paper, and the (autocad?) diagrams are in full color and are the easiest-to-understand stitch instructions I've ever seen. The diagrams transform what could be quite challenging stitches into a simple step-by-step process. The book itself is a beautiful masterpiece celebrating a unique art. I was lucky enough to buy a copy of this book when it first came out, paying ($) at a cross-stitch shop, and I made one of the three samplers in the book - it didn't take that long to complete and looks lovely. Recently I came across another copy at a library sale for $3 and snapped it up fast enough to make my wrist hurt. No surprise - I found a (very happy) buyer who paid me ($) for the book. That was probably too low. I am hanging on to my remaining copy for dear life. You can look on ebay, you can call the publisher, you can look on addall, and you won't find it anywhere. Hopefully they'll reprint it someday, but I called Symbol of Excellence to ask and they said they have no plans to reprint it. Their advice? "Look on Amazon or ebay." So if you CAN find it, get it - and enjoy Darlene O'Steen's stitching wizardry.

Guess what folks. It's been reprinted!!!! Saw it at the Just Cross Stitch seminar in Colonial Wmsbg this afternoon (3 Dec 06). Amazon doesn't have it, but it IS out there to be had. I don't remember the exact price, but it was approx. $45.00. Hope that makes someone's Christmas brighter!

The bible of stitchers. A must for every cross stitcher! Wonderful illustrations, and three lovely samplers!

This book has no equal - period. Interesting information, clear and concise directions and diagrams. Everything from simple running and cross stitches to those that take over 30 passes of the needle to complete, all easy to follow. No serious needlewoman should be without this one, but alas it is out of print. Someone PLEASE get Symbol of Excellence to run a re-print!!!

I love beautifully illustrated children's books. This book is certainly one of them. I implore you to consider picking up a copy for yourself or someone that you know. The artwork is simply breathtaking. The realism and detail are unparalleled. Of course paired with the 23 Psalm just makes this visual treat even better.

We found this book because we have What Does the Sky Say? also illustrated by Tim Ladwig. The pictures were simply so beautiful we searched on the internet for anything we could find out about this artist. I encourage you to check out that book, too. You will not be disappointed.

This book is fantastic. My children and I both love it. It brought me to tears the first time I read it. The thing I love about it is that it brings scripture to life. It makes it real and meaningful, easy to understand and apply, both for me and my children. You SEE how it is for today. Not to mention the art work is beautiful. We have enjoyed this book over and over again. I give it 5 stars.

This book has brought us to tears on numerous occassions. As urban dwellers (city folk) or those living in rural lands around the world, this book speaks to the eternal power of the Psalms and gives hope to us all. The art is phenominal - cutting to the core of a day-in-the-life for two African American inner-city children. The love, protection and abundance of God's provision is shown through the mundane - or is it the sacred? In God's world there is no difference. My wife and I give this book as a THE staple gift for all newborn children we know and love.

Buy, read, re-read, enjoy, meditate, ponder.

The beauty and power of these words originally penned thousands of years ago are fresh, relevant and alive again in the magnificent artwork of Tim Ladwig. This is not the Psalm recited in the pristine pasture of the Mediterranean region. It is the Song of the Urban Neighborhood and it will resonate in your soul. A must get for everyone whether you associate with kids and grandbabies or not.

This book is so special, after reading it I want to get a copy for everyone I know. This is a book not just for children, but for adults who need the constant reassurance and reminder of God's love for us. It is beautifully done, in a manner that should humble all of us.

Anne Weems pours out her heart and reaches the sadness and overwhelming grief that many feel. I ordered this book for a friend who lost both of her children in an automobile accident.

This is one of the best books that I have ever purchased. I have used it time and again for many devotional times in churches and Christian educational events.

This book is terrific for anyone stuggling with the tragides of life, espechally sudden death or serious or chronic illness. It is plea to God for help, understanding and solice for those burdened by the unfairness that is life. It has been a source of comfort to read these each night. Sad as they, are they are cathartic

all i can tell you of this book is my mother credits a large percentage of her still being on this planet after the death of her 16 year old daughter in a car accident to the insights in this book of poetry--it is a series of poems about the loss of her son, mostly written as appeals to god, and it certainly brings the reader face to face with their anger and sadness, so they can move on and face the future with a little less hopelessness.

When my son was killed in an auto/pedestrian accident two years ago, I read books that were given to me, books that were recommended by therapists, and books that I randomly bought in search of any source of solace. Ann Weem's "Psalms of Lament" spoke the words my heart has been crying. Especially Lament Psalm Forty-Nine. Like Ann and Rachel, I will never be comforted; until God wipes the tears from my eyes.

Patricia Chavez

A delightful picture book that perfectly captures a child's sensitive feelings about losing too many teeth at once!!

I HIGHLY recommend this book for grades K-3 (ages 5-8) This also makes a wonderful Halloween book to add to any collection.

Sherry Ann Marcum
School Librarian

"Pumkin Smile" is a pure delight. It is the perfect book for any child with a loose tooth or an empty space waiting for a new tooth to grow in. The story is charming, the illustrations are extraordinarily fine and the design of the book is first class. Hearty cheers to all involved in bringing to the scene a book so typical of the feelings of every child.

Six-year-old Hannah is going through the disconcerting experience of losing he baby teeth, one after the other. At first it's fun -- until the gaps make her talk with a lisp. Besides that, her tongue sticks out! Embarrassed, Hannah decides not to smile again until her new teeth grow in. But when Halloween arrives, Hannah and her Dad figure out a clever way to turn her problem into a funny, but useful idea! Emily Chetkowski's endearing and lively Pumpkins Smile is enhanced with the artistry of Dawn Peterson resulting in an enthusiastically recommended picturebook story for young readers.

...tho not a matching smile! I'm too old for that. But, this is a wonderful story about a little girl who is feeling insecure about her looks as she loses her baby teeth and before her second teeth come in. What a delightful way to improve self esteem at such a tender moment; create a matching smile on a Halloween pumpkin! The emotions of Hannah are captured beautifully in the illustrations, which carry us through Hannah's difficult days straight into the next year with the pumpkin being placed in a compost heap and regenerating in time for the next year's child in need of a Pumpkin Smile. Read this to your children and grandchildren - they'll love the rhyme and you'll enjoy the lithping, too.

This clever book deals With how a girl feels When she talks and looks different from before.

At first she's distraught, (Misses out on a lot), 'Cause her smile brings pleasure no more.

When October arrives Her dad really strives To give her a lot of assurance.

With her pumpkin face She wins first place And regains her old confidence.

Together, Chetkowski and Peterson have created a delightful book. Chetkowski tells the true story of Hannah, age 6, losing teeth. Peterson complements the story with her warm and detailed illustrations. Children who have lost teeth or are about to lose them can relate to Hannah and her feelings of self-consciousness. Teachers of pre-school to first grade children will enjoy reading this book aloud in the Fall. The rhyming pattern and pumpkin carvings will capture the young audience's attention.

Its not often a book comes along that not only is a pleasure to read but actually gives sound advice that can be understood and readily implemented 'straight from the page'! Tim O'Hanlon has provided such a text for those of us involved in ISO 9001:2000 audits. The practical approach that brings auditing into the realm of business reality makes this an immmensely useful read. Its on my compulsory reading list for clients who want to revamp their auditing process so as to realise the value-adding potential of audits. My advice -- buy it, read it then use the knowledge to improve your processes!

I was given the job of planning the transition of our existing system to ISO 9001:2000 and someone said "Read Tim O'Hanlon's book". I did and I am so pleased. I got much more than I bargained for. When I saw the title I thought it was not what I needed but I was wrong..it was the only thing I needed. This guy really knows what he is going on about.

For years I just did not get the point of auditors. I thought they were like police officers trying to find the culprits. This book makes it clear, their role is to add value and what's more, this book tells you how they should do it. Dr. O'Hanlon has opended the door for effective audits.

This book offers a fresh approach for auditors. I like that O'Hanlon is saying 'hey make your audit worthwhile for your company. Don't be afraid of the auditor.'

Nice diagrams are included and book is easy to understand.

This book is a breath of fresh air in an area made stuffy by boring quality books that make no sense unless you already know your stuff and if you did you wouldn't buy the book in the first place!
Dr. O'Hanlon seems to realise this and explains everything using easy to understand terms and useful diagrams. I heartily recommend purchasing this book...it certainly provided me with an interesting perspective of the auditing system!

Possibly the most useful book ever published for Quark 4.

As a reference guide for the Quark user it is indespensible, covering all the features of the software as well as tips and techniques.
Not a book for learning Quark, so not for a complete novice but worth a place on any serious quark users bookshelf.

I've been using Quark for a few year now, and teaching it for a little while, too. I've bought and read many Quark books, but none were even close to this one. This book, "...in a nutshell," is absolutely complete with all possible information you may need, including some tips even I didn't know.
Given, it might be easier for me to read it than a novice, but, as some wrote before, it does an amazing job in describing every single feature that existed in Quark up to version 4.x. Very clear, very direct, well ordered, easy to find information in, including images where images are necessary.
The only downside in my case - which will definitely NOT be the case for everyone - is that the book doesn't have any tutorials or exercises that we can practice with, or have students practice with. I usually use the "Around the Clock" series in my classes, simply because they have a decent (no more than that) tutorial in the end. If this book had one, I'd completely switch to it in a heartbeat.
Thus, if you have some notion of Quark, and want to learn more, get this book; if you know most of Quark, get this book so you can learn more; and, if you think you know all of it, get it and be surprised. Is all I can say. :-)

This book will answer every Quark question you can think up. I love this book and all of my coworkers are glad I have it as well.

This book is an EXCELLENT reference for everything Quark! I keep it in my desk drawer at work, and I refer to it almost daily. This book WILL NOT teach you how to use Quark, but covers EVERY SINGLE menu option, window, and shortcut key. A must have. It covers version 4.0, for both Windows and Macintosh. And, best of all, it's written in the simple and to-the-point O'Reilly style. The cost is right too!

If you don't know how DTP software works, don't buy this book. This is not a book that teaches you QuarkXpress. It is a book for people that know how to work the program, and need something to look up rarely used functions and keyboard shortcuts. The book does so very well. The explanations are clear, and the shortcut appendix is excellent. On top of that, it costs about half of all the other Quark books...

Does a writer who shares the same name as a famous guy who writes about his years in 'Nam sell as many books?? That's one question I think I know the answer to!

The Question Book "?" may not be long, may not have much text, and may not be very big - but it is chocked full of wit and irony regarding situations and events that you normally wouldn't think twice about. I won't give any of the items away, you'll have to buy the book to experience it, but I will say that you'll want to purchase copies for all your friends, relatives, and co-workers once you've seen it!

Tim O'Brien tries hard to be an idiot, but his hyperintelligence shines through with these context-twisting, non-sequitir questions that will make you take a step back from the things you take for granted.

Tolstoy -- step aside.

Joyce -- suck my toe.

Alright, fine, that's it...I admit, I'm the writer. But alas, I think this some cool stuff. Dig it. Love it. Leave it. Amen.

This book is filled with 169 off-the-wall, hilarious, zany questions. Tim O'Brien is truly a gifted comic. Who else could have thought of such questions as:

If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi?

Do Roman paramedics refer to IVs as "4's" ?

Does distressed leather come from very tense cows?

These, and the other 166 questions in this book are side-splittingly funny. If you like off-the-wall humor, you'll love this book.

While at first I thought O'Reilly's new "developer's notebook" series seemed a bit hokey, this book is extremely useful. It's concise and to the point, but full of good examples and information. A plus of the small size is that it's more to-the-point and cheaper than a typical O'Reilly book (which very often seem to ramble on and on about marginally useful information, seemingly in order to justify their $45+ price tags).

This book is the one that should have been written for Java Media Framework, if only that API had ever lived up to its expectations. If you want to add media to your application, and you are using Java, Quicktime is your best bet. However, note that if the Quicktime for Java API doesn't seem very Java-like or object-oriented at first glance, then that's probably because it's not. That is because with Quicktime for Java you are not working with pure Java. Instead, you're invoking a flat C API to create and manipulate C or Pascal data structures using a thin Java wrapper. If you can live with that and you still want to use Quicktime for Java, this book is the essential guide and tutorial you need to get up and running. The book does not waste your time with API printouts or a Java programming language tutorial. Instead, like all books in the Developer's Notebook series, it gets down to business quickly by demonstrating working Java code for a number of useful tasks when working with media.

First, it tutors you on how to set up Quicktime for Java on a Windows machine. This task is more complex than you would think, and this book hits the mark on the subject. Next, it shows you how to play movies and audio files from your Java program. Next, the book tackles the editing of movies from a Java application. This includes topics such as cutting, pasting, going to specific frames of a movie, and "flattening" a movie. In Chapter four, the programmer is introduced to working with Java components and importing and exporting graphics. In chapter five, the user is introduced to working with QuickDraw, the Apple-originated drawing API. This is essential, since QuickDraw is what is used to work with captured images. Thus in this chapter the reader is taught how to transfer data between images and a movie. Next, the art of capturing both video and audio is explored, including capturing audio and video to the same file. The chapter is rounded out with the code for a motion detector. Chapter seven is devoted entirely to audio media. There are particularly timely topics here, such as how to read information from MP3 and from iTunes AAC files, how to provide basic audio controls, and how to build an audio track from raw samples. Similar information is provided in a separate chapter for information specific to video media.The final chapter discusses the effects available in Quicktime for Java, as well as how to add text captions and timecodes to your media.

All in all, I think the Developer Notebook format works well for this subject. At the beginning of each chapter there is an outline of the topics to be covered. For each topic there is a "How Do I Do That?" section that includes a short piece of Java code that performs the specified task. There is also a sample of the output you would expect to see on the screen that should result from executing the code. Next there is a paragraph entitled "What Just Happened?" that explains the code just shown, and finally each topic usually ends with a "What about.." section that answers common questions you may have about extending the code just shown. All code in the book can be downloaded from the book's website at O'Reilly and Associates.

This book is essential reading for anybody who needs to understand how to code with Quicktime for Java, and it is far better than any other publication on the subject that I have encountered. Amazon does not show the table of contents for this book, so I do so for the purpose of completeness:
Chapter 1. GETTING UP AND RUNNING WITH QUICKTIME FOR JAVA
Setting Up QTJ on Windows
Embedding QuickTime in HTML
Preflighting a QTJ Installation
Compiling QTJ Code
Opening and Closing the QuickTime Session
Playing an Audio File from the Command Line
Chapter 2. PLAYING MOVIES
Building a Simple Movie Player
Adding a Controller
Getting a Movie-Playing JComponent
Controlling a Movie Programmatically
Showing a Movie's Current Time
Listening for Movie State-Changes
Moving Frame by Frame
Playing Movies from URLs
Preventing "Tasking" Problems
Chapter 3. EDITING MOVIES
Copying and Pasting
Performing "Low-Level" Edits
Undoing an Edit
Undoing and Redoing Multiple Edits
Saving a Movie to a File
Flattening a Movie
Saving a Movie with Dependencies
Editing Tracks
Chapter 4. WORKING WITH COMPONENTS
Specifying a Component's Type
Exporting Movies
Exporting Movies to Any Installed Format
Importing and Exporting Graphics
Discovering All Installed Components
Chapter 5. WORKING WITH QUICKDRAW
Getting and Saving Picts
Getting a Pict from a Movie
Converting a Movie Image to a Java Image
A Better Movie-to-Java Image Converter
Drawing with Graphics Primitives
Getting a Screen Capture
Matrix-Based Drawing
Compositing Graphics
Chapter 6. CAPTURE
Capturing and Previewing Audio
Selecting Audio Inputs
Capturing Audio to Disk
Capturing Video to Disk
Capturing Audio and Video to the Same File
Making a Motion Detector
Chapter 7. AUDIO MEDIA
Reading Information from MP3 Files
Reading Information from iTunes AAC Files
Providing Basic Audio Controls
Providing a Level Meter
Building an Audio Track from Raw Samples
Chapter 8. VIDEO MEDIA
Combining Video Tracks
Overlaying Video Tracks
Building a Video Track from Raw Samples
Chapter 9. MISCELLANEOUS MEDIA
Creating Captions with Text Media
Creating Links with HREF Tracks
Adding Timecodes
Creating Zero-Source Effects
Creating One-Source Effects (Filters)
Creating Two-Source Effects (Transitions)

This book is great!

This notebook makes all the QuickTime supported formats available to a Java developer. Like all the books in the notebook series, plenty of code, plenty of information to get up and running.

I really liked the information on reading the tag info from MP3s and AAC files, very useful.

Multimedia and Java made simple.

With this type of walkthrough book I usually expect to see just the basic features of the technology explored. This book goes surprisingly in-depth, covering topics like adding effects to playback, transforming movies during playback, overlays, and a wide variety of topics.

All that is crammed into a trim 200 page frame. This is achieved by concentrating mainly on the code, and effectively using a minimum of images. That's a trick given the graphics intensive nature of the topic.

This is not a book for beginners, it's a fast-paced walkthrough for experience developers who want something less referential than the JavaDocs.

With Apple changing QuickTime for Java so anything you made when
use QTJava under MacOSX Java1.3 no longer worked under Java1.4 these required changes to most of your older QTJava code- if you wanted to have your code now run under Java1.4. Apple also moved classes to a new packages so to make the developers nightmare complete. BUT DONT WORRY! This book will show you workarounds for them missing classes (sequence grabbing is back! what a gem). Also covers all your needs as a new developer to the powers of QTJava. Time to make your very own QuickTime player in a few hours! You won't believe the stuff QuickTime can do under the hood. This books covers just more and more stuff as you go though it.

For me this QuickTime for Java book will be sitting next to the older most excellent book from Bill Stewart. I hope all books become as clear and well written as this one from Chris Adamson- top work. Sample code all over the shop; step by step stuff. Cuts to the tasks you will have to tackle without lengthy messing around. Brilliant buy if you want to do cool hardcore design media in java. Or just play a nice sound track in the background of your killer application - maybe u want to make the next video editing studio app, or your own media player, or a streaming server, or a image editor, or or or; you want ta take a ride?

Then again don't buy it! I wont have a job to go to in the morning! :).

As you follow the exploits and antics of Ashton Martin, you can't help but think that Bo Rivers is writing from experience. From the Keys to Crystal River, you can tell that he's "been there, and done that". What makes this a great read is his ability to leave you feeling like you've "just been there and done that". Great supporting cast,well worth it. Can't wait for the next one......

If you dig Hiassen and ol' Elmore as much as I do, this book is a must! Clicked on, saw this, decided...why not??? Couldn't have been more pleased. The pace, characters and story line are so unmpredictable I couldn't put the damn thing down. I want more, Mr. Rivers. Surely that action packed/ unexpected ending means there's more to come. "He's Got you Shorty!"

I've never piloted a mega-horsepower speedboat, flown a twin turbo-prop plane, been chased by the FBI (or even by goonish bill collectors), slept with a beautiful doctor, had helicopter cannons fired at me, or even been to Florida for that matter...but I have read Bo Rivers' new book, Rancho Snake-O, and when I got through, I felt as if I HAD done all these things. For a first novel, it's wonderfully crafted, with intriguing plot twists and curves that keep the reader teetering on the edge of the Barcolounger. Once I started it, I just flat-out could NOT put it down. The hero, Ashton Martin, is a loveable lawyer (now THERE'S a new concept) who finds himself wrapped up in an ever-convoluted and hilarious chain of events that keeps getting more complex and rapid-fire as it progresses. His saving grace is the ability to think very quickly in a crisis, to use condoms sensibly, and surround himself with a circle of loyal friends who'll do anything to repay his pro-bono legal favors. If you took the styles of Tom Robbins, John Nichols, Ian Flemning and Hunter S. Thompson and blended them up with a dollop of turbocharged big boy toys, a twist of supercharged adventure, a smattering of babelicious dolls, and floated a rare 14' Black Cayman on the top, you'd come close to the pleasure of reading this book. River's novel is a riveting, rambunctious tour de force, and I can't wait for the film to come out!

What a great story with a great cast of charactors. The book kept me interested through-out and was hard to put down. My only complaint is that by the end of the book I was so involved with the charactors that I wanted more! I hope Ash Martin comes back soon!!!

If you want to take a fast paced,high adventure trip. And never leave the hammock. Grab you copy of Rancho Snake-O, and mix the cocktail revealed with in. Once you start reading you won't stop till the end. A book like this will make your own creative jucies flow. And wish you were there for the ride!

If you believe that the Bible and the Creeds are inerrant and infallible then this is not the book for you. On the other hand if you are looking for an approach to religion that does not sacrifice reason and compassion then you will love this book.

As a woman raised by very spiritual parents in the framework of Catholicism, I often find myself experiencing the "dissonance" Dr. Elgin so eloquently describes. The chapters will strike a chord with those who want to make rational sense out of Christian teachings but also seek room for basic tolerance, love and acceptance of other wonderful and loving teachings common in many other faiths. I find myself literally saying "Exactly...he Gets It". I am reading the book for a second time as I type. This was a great gift at Easter for my Christian family members who agree that the hardline thought of "One True Religion...the rest be damned" is not only a very unloving path for life, but an uneducated one as well. "Open your Mind and Open your Heart" by reading this great book!

Heather C. Tackitt

This should be required reading for every minister, priest, divinity student -- heck, the pope should read this one! This is a refreshing and soul-lifting approach to Christianity -- it makes SENSE!!!

This is one of those books that differentiates itself by not pandering to the current fad of religious extremism. It offers a middle road for those of us left by the current religious traditions that have polarized to either a happy happy joy joy all is light and goodness, and the fire and brimstone apocalyptics at the other extreme. Presented is the solution; the viable combination of Gods gift of thought and reason, and the beauty, grace and peace brought by faith in something greater...

I cannot begin to decribe the joy, learning experience and the actual feeling of love from the convictions of this author.

Having been in VietNam and knowing the functions of the rational military chaplain of that era, it is truly plesant to read a book that is written to inform one how to be rational about their beliefs, understand where and how the histories of religion were (and are still) being written, and most importantly, how love is still the vital ingredient to a happy and focused life.

It is also important to let others know that I am Jewish and the way in which this book is written does not preclude any person interested in religions and well written opinion and logical points and references to read this book.

All who do, I am certain will feel and sense the energy and convictions of Dr. Elgin. A truly relevant and good read. Thank you Dr. Elgin and congratulations on this enjoyable, important book.