Professional Books

I purchased this book to assist me with some finance and accounting courses. It was one of the best purchases I could have made. The book is clear, concise, and informative. It made understanding several of the concepts behind financial statement analysis much much simpler. It is certainly worth every bit of the cost.

I am not a CPA or Finance major. I am a physicist so the math is not intimidating. I have been investing as an amateur since retirement and this book gives solid and easily understood ways to get at the valuation of a company and its stock by investigating the financial statements. There is a good comprehensive case study at the end of the book, but I wish the authors would give more examples either within or at the end of each chapter.

I did not finish this book because it is written in a very academic and hard to grasp language. Authors, please make your sentences a little shorter and simpler, the book is very boring and verbose! However, I must give credit to the authors for including almost all of the tools one will need for analysis of financial statements.

I have bought every edition of this book, and it just keeps getting better and better. As a 25 year veteran of corporate finance, I continue to use this book myself on a regular basis and to recommend it to less experienced employees who are still developing their expertise. Every finance library should have this book.

Being a Steeler Fan, I have read both Terry Bradshaw's and Rocky Bleir's books, and while I found them interesting, I didn't get quite the feel for the individual as well as the game from their books as I did from Andy Russell's. I am not just a fan of the sport of football, but a fan of the players. As a fan of the individuals, I like to know as much about them as possible. Everything from their childhood and family life, through high school and college, because all of that has an effect on their football career and what they bring to the game. Andy's stories about his life after football give us a perspective on the good effects that the commraderie and competitiveness of football can have on the rest of your life. I particularly enjoyed the chapter which tells of his visits to combat areas in Vietnam. The American soldiers in the various hospitals had the same reaction to American football players. I totally understand that reaction - meeting A Pittsburgh Steeler so far away from home helped the soldier forget the harshness of war for just a few moments and go back to all that is good in the world - good old American Football!

Being a Steeler Fan, I have read both Terry Bradshaw's and Rocky Bleir's books, and while I found them interesting, I didn't get quite the feel for the individual as well as the game from their books as I did from Andy Russell's. I am not just a fan of the sport of football, but a fan of the players. As a fan of the individuals, I like to know as much about them as possible. Everything from their childhood and family life, through high school and college, because all of that has an effect on their football career and what they bring to the game. Andy's stories about his life after football give us a perspective on the good effects that the commraderie and competitiveness of football can have on the rest of your life. I particularly enjoyed the chapter which tells of his visits to combat areas in Vietnam. The American soldiers in the various hospitals had the same reaction to American football players. I totally understand that reaction - meeting A Pittsburgh Steeler so far away from home helped the soldier forget the harshness of war for just a few moments and go back to all that is good in the world - good old American Football!

Being a Steeler Fan, I have read both Terry Bradshaw's and Rocky Bleir's books, and while I found them interesting, I didn't get quite the feel for the individual as well as the game from their books as I did from Andy Russell's. I am not just a fan of the sport of football, but a fan of the players. As a fan of the individuals, I like to know as much about them as possible. Everything from their childhood and family life, through high school and college, because all of that has an effect on their football career and what they bring to the game. Andy's stories about his life after football give us a perspective on the good effects that the commraderie and competitiveness of football can have on the rest of your life. I particularly enjoyed the chapter which tells of his visits to combat areas in Vietnam. The American soldiers in the various hospitals had the same reaction to American football players. I totally understand that reaction - meeting A Pittsburgh Steeler so far away from home helped the soldier forget the harshness of war for just a few moments and go back to all that is good in the world - good old American Football!

This is the story of a former NFL All Pro linebacker going on a journey of self discovery after retiring from the game. Along the way he reminisces about his famous teammates: Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Jack Ham, Rocky Bleier and others. He and his Steeler pal, Ray Mansfield, take Lynn Swann and Mel Blount around the world, giving speeches from Hong Kong to London, and sports clinics for young people from Singapore to Jeddah while still finding time to develop his international investment business. Two stories tell of dodging bullets on a USO tour of Vietnam and Thailand with ex-congressman Jack Kemp, Bobby Bell, John David Crow and Bill Brown. Along the way the adventurer team of Russell/ Mansfield test themselves on a wilderness canoe race in Canada, on mountain tops in Nepal and barely make it out of the Grand Canyon. The writer, a sensitive sort, who struggles to find himself after leaving the game gives the reader a first hand look of what it was like to be on the field with the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers. This book is an easy read--one that will keep the reader rivited to every story.

I think what Tony does is spectacular. He has helped me so much and I would recommend his books and tapes to everyone, and I have. I need help though, if any one out there knows of an address to where I could write him please let me know. I want to know the steps he took,career wise, to get where he is today because I would love to do what he does. If anyone could help me I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you. Rebecca Hartmann. E-Mail address is edhar@Bellsouth.net. Thanks again.

My success got on the fast track as soon as I harnessed the power of questions. Ia sked am questions and pm questions. Stuff works.

I have to admit, I wasn't too excited about my life at first but once I started asking myself, "What could I be excited about" I found reasons to be excited and that led to taking action.

I also enjoyed the interview with Barbara DeAngelis. Great stuff!

I really enjoyed this tape set because of the process of learning how to create better questions and asking them.

What would it be like if you created a set of

POWER QUESTIONS that could instantly change your life?

The interview with De Angeles will provide the listener with an insight into her drive as a relationship expert.

This book realy helped me understaind that the mind organizes it's expectations by past experiences , and expectations are what shape your world. this can be counterd by finding new refrances, and remembering past succeses

Our publisher sent me a copy of Raffael Marty's Applied Security Visualization. This book is absolutely worth getting if you're designing information visualizations. The first and third chapters are a great short intro into how to construct information visualization, and by themselves are probably worth the price of the book. They're useful far beyond security. The chapter I didn't like was the one on insiders, which I'll discuss in detail further in the review.

In the intro, the author accurately scopes the book to operational security visualization. The book is deeply applied: there's a tremendous number of graphs and the data which underlies them. Marty also lays out the challenge that most people know about either visualization or security, and sets out to introduce each to the other. In the New School of Information Security, Andrew and I talk about these sorts of dichotomies and the need to overcome them, and so I really liked how Marty called it out explicitly. One of the challenges of the book is that the first few chapters flip between their audiences. As long as readers understand that they're building foundations, it's not bad. For example, security folks can skim chapter 2, visualization people chapter 3.

Chapter 1, Visualization covers the whats and whys of visualization, and then delves into some of the theory underlying how to visualize. The only thing I'd change in chapter 1 is a more explicit mention of Tufte's small multiples idea. Chapter 2, Data Sources, lays out many of the types of data you might visualize. There's quite a bit of "run this command" and "this is what the output looks like," which will be more useful to visualization people than to security people. Chapter 3, Visually Representing Data covers the many types of graphs, their properties and when they're approprite. He goes from pie and bar charts to link graphs, maps and tree maps, and closes with a good section on choosing the right graph. I was a little surprised to see figure 3-12 be a little heavy on the data ink (a concept that Marty discusses in chapter 1) and I'm confused by the box for DNS traffic in figure 3-13. It seems that the median and average are both below the minimum size of the packets. These are really nits, it's a very good chapter. I wish more of the people who designed the interfaces I use regularly had read it. Chapter 4, From Data to Graphs covers exactly that: how to take data and get a graph from it. The chapter lays out six steps:

1. Define the problem
2. Assess Available Data (I'll come back to this)
3. Process Information
4. Visual Transformation
5. View Transformation
6. Interpret and Decide

There's also a list of tools for processing data, and some comparisons. Chapter 5, Visual Security Analysis covers reporting, historical analysis and real time analysis. He explains the difference, when you use each, and what tools to use for each. Chapter 6, Perimeter Threat covers visualization of traffic flows, firewalls, intrusion detection signature tuning, wireless, email and vulnerability data. Chapter 7, Compliance covers auditing, business process management, and risk management. Marty makes the assumption that you have a mature risk management process which produces numbers he can graph. I don't suppose that this book should go into a long digression on risk management, but I question the somewhat breezy assumption that you'll have numbers for risks.

I had two major problems with chapter 8, Insider Threat. The first is claims like "fewer than half (according to various studies) of various studies involve sophisticated technical means" (pg 387) and "Studies have found that a majority of subjects who stole information..." (pg 390) None of these studies are referenced or footnoted, and this in a book that footnotes a URL for sendmail. I believe those claims are wrong. Similarly, there's a bizarre assertion that insider threats are new (pg 373). I've been able to track down references to claims that 70% of security incidents come from insiders back to the early 1970s. My second problem is that having mis-characterized the problem, Marty presents a set of approaches which will send IT security scurrying around chasing chimeras such as "printing files with resume in the name." (This because a study claims that many insiders who commit information theft are looking for a new job. At least that study is cited.) I think the book would have been much stronger without this chapter, and suggest that you skip it or use it with a strongly questioning bias.

Chapter 9, Data Visualization Tools is a guided tour of file formats, free tools, open source libraries, and online and commercial tools. It's a great overview of the strengths and weaknesses of tools out there, and will save anyone a lot of time in finding a tool to meet various needs. The Live CD, Data Analysis and Visualization Linux can be booted on most any computer, and used to experiment with the tools described in chapter 9. I haven't played with it yet, and so can't review it.

I would have liked at least a nod to the value of comparative and baseline data from other organizations. I can see that that's a little philosophical for this book, but the reality is that security won't become a mature discipline until we share data. Some of the compliance and risk visualizations could be made much stronger by drawing on data from organizations like the Open Security Foundation's Data Loss DB or the Verizion Breaches Report.

Even in light of the criticism I've laid out, I learned a lot reading this book. I even wish that Marty had taken the time to look at non-operational concerns, like software development. I can see myself pulling this off the shelf again and again for chapters 3 and 4. This is a worthwhile book for anyone involved in Applied Security Visualization, and perhaps even anyone involved in other forms of technical visualization.

When security professionals are dealing with huge amounts of information, and who is not nowadays, correlation and filtering is not the easiest path (and sometimes enough) to discern what is going on. The in-depth analysis of security data and logs is a time consuming exercise, and security visualization (SecViz) extensively helps to focus on the relevant data and reduces the amount of work required to reach to the same conclusions. It is mandatory to add the tools and techniques associated to SecViz to your arsenal, as they are basically taking advantage of the capabilities we have as humans to visualize (and at the same time analyze) data. A clear example is the insider threat and related incidents, where tons of data sources are available.

The best sentence (unfortunately it is not an image ;) that describes SecViz comes from the author:
A picture is worth a thousand log entries.

This is a great book that joins two separate worlds, visualization and information security (infosec). The first chapter is an excellent introduction to the human perception system, its basic principles, and how we analyze, discern, and assimilate information. It is an eye opener for those new to the field. Chapter two is similar from an infosec perspective, and summarizes the main challenges and data sources, such as packet captures, traffic flows, and firewall, IDS/IPS, system, and application logs. The third chapter details different graph properties and chart types, including some open-source and online tools for chart and color selection. Although we (infosec pros) are familiarized with link graphs to represent relationships between botnet members or hosts, the book provides a whole set of charts for different purposes; one of the most useful types, and we are not very used too it in the security field, is treemaps. The chapter includes a really useful table to select the right graph based on the purpose of the analysis and the data available.

Then, the previous chapters are smoothly mixed together through a reference methodology that defines what is the problem to solve, and the process to manipulate the available data and generate a (or set of) graph(s) that allow gathering relevant conclusions and answers. The methodology is complemented with an introduction to the standard Unix-based text processing tools (grep, awk, Perl, etc). This methodology is later on applied, with a strong hands-on and how-to spirit, to an extensive set of common security use-cases, such as the perimeter threat, compliance, and the insider threat.

The perimeter chapter offers a deep insight into common attack scenarios, such as worms, DoS or anomaly detection, and operational tasks, like firewall log and ruleset analysis, IDS tuning, or vulnerability assessments. I could never forget how useful were SecViz techniques for anomaly detection on a huge DNS-related incident I was involved about 5 years ago. Thanks to the performance and statistical graphs we had available at that time, we were able to easily identify and solve a very complex and critical security incident.

When I saw this chapter included a wireless section I got really excited due to personal interest. However, I was disappointed as it was just a couple of pages. I think it could be extended to gather a whole set of useful information about complex wireless attacks and client and access points relationships, just by inspecting the different 802.11 management, control, and data frames, and even radio-frequency signals (from a spectrum analyzer). SecViz opens the door to a whole new wireless research area!

The compliance chapter offers a whole methodology to check and manage regulations, control frameworks, auditing, and risk monitoring and management from a visual perspective.

The same applies to the insider threat chapter, as it provides an impressive framework, not only visualization-based, to deal with malicious insiders. It is based on setting up scores for certain behaviors and activities (precursors), generating lists of suspicious candidates, and apply thresholds to accommodate exceptions. It also contains an extensive and directly applicable precursor list at the end to detect suspicious insider activities.

Finally, the book contains a whole chapter, full of references and comparison tables, of open-source and commercial visualization tools and libraries that allow the reader to select the appropriate tool for specific tasks and scenarios.

Although the book hands-on component is very significant, with lots of detailed examples of commands, scripts, and tool options to generate the different graphs, I would have liked to see a thorough usage of the how-to portions, as for some sections there are no specific details about how the graphs have been generated. The book layout makes it the perfect candidate to become a fully interactive technical book. I would suggest to add (for a 2nd edition ;)) practical sections to each chapter where the reader could reproduce all the steps discussed. The book CD is the perfect tool to provide the reader with all the (sanitized) data sets and logs used to generate the graphs, and even allow to include some challenges where the reader needs to analyze the data and answer some questions after generating the appropriate graphs.

To sum up, this book is a mandatory reference for anyone involved in the operational side of infosec, doing intrusion detection, incident handling, forensic analysis, etc, and it can be applied to both, historical analysis and real-time monitoring. Additionally, I found it useful too for auditing and pen-testing professionals, as it provides great tips to generate relevant and efficient graphs for the associated reports.

The accompanying DAVIX Live CD is an excellent resource to start applying the techniques covered throughout the book through open-source tools, SecViz is the Web portal to expand your knowledge on this topic, and AfterGlow is (one of) the most relevant SecViz open-source tools.

Applied Security Visualization (ASV) is a pioneering book in the emerging field of using visualization techniques to explore and represent data from a security perspective. Many security products - everything from intrusion detection systems, firewalls, SIM's, and AV software - offer methods for visualizing data they collect, but no single product has the ideal visualization interface (whatever that is). A main theme in ASV is to impart the reader with the knowledge and skills necessary to ask new questions about security data (such as a set of IDS event logs or application logs) and show the reader how to visually represent the answers to these questions. If a commercial interface has not been designed to visualize a data set in a particular way, ASV introduces tools and techniques to frequently make this possible. For example, common visualizations of firewall logs involve source and destination IP addresses and port numbers, but suppose that you want to create a link graph that involves source and destination IP addresses graphed against the TTL value in the IP header? The information in ASV makes this a snap.

At many points ASV deals with custom data parsing with invocations of clever one-line perl commands, and being a perl hacker myself, these examples are of particular interest.

The discussion in ASV is firmly grounded computer security, and many important security questions are raised along with motivating examples. For instance, a nice example is given for visualizing all outbound connections made from a laptop and differentiating these connections based on whether they are sent over the Tor network for strong anonymity. Additional examples include using visual techniques to detect outliers, combining multiple data sources, using visual aids to assist with regulatory compliance (by quickly conveying meaningful security data to auditors), and much more. One graphing type, invented by Ben Shneiderman, is the Treemap and several examples of its usage are presented. While Treemap graphs are perhaps not intuitively obvious, ASV makes a strong case for why they should be included within your visualization arsenal. A particularly good example is presented in Chapter 6 on using Treemap graphs to visualize vulnerability data provided by Nessus.

Although I'm not an expert in visualization, I have worked in the field of computer security for over ten years, and have written books on the subject (concentrating on intrusion detection systems and firewalls). I gave ASV five stars because it arms the reader with the knowledge required to produce custom visualizations that may not be addressed by any particular tool. This is much more powerful than presenting some specific software and associated (fixed) parser. Security is a process, and ASV provides a foundation for the effective inclusion of visualization techniques in the constant fight to secure computing systems and networks.

Marty explains how to analyse computer security logs using visualisation. The problem is that the logs can, and in fact usually do, become voluminous. You, the sysadmin, then have the uneviable task of manually plodding thru megabytes of text in a log file, looking for possible cracker probes or even actual successful intrusions. As Marty points out, if you can somehow display the data in a concise visual format, then you can take advantage of the high bandwidth of the human eye and the wetware pattern recognition that it is connected to in the brain.

So what display methods are there? Well, the text goes over principles known to graphics artists, but perhaps not as well bruited amongst sysadmins. Basically, you have a two dimensional area, like a computer screen, in which to show data. By judicious use of colour, shape and movement [and some other means] you can extend the effective dimensionality of the graph.

The book talks about various graphs. Describing the limitations of the simple pie, bar and line graphs. More versatile are the scatterplot and cluster graph. The latter lets you show a "graph", in another meaning of the latter word as a connected [perhaps via directed arcs] set of nodes.

The example data are drawn from typical internet logs, like those output by a packet sniffer or by a web or mail server. The logs look at different levels of the Internet Protocol stack. The web and mail server logs sit at the application layer.

Also useful is Marty's survey of open source and commercial plotting packages. The book's CD has a collection of the former. You should consider whether an existing package is suitable for your needs. Much quicker to adapt one, than to code a graphics program from scratch.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a great book to reference for business negotionating. It is put togther so very well that makes it enjoyable to read as well as an extremely awesome resource.

If you are opening or running a small architecural practice, this book is IT! Real life- from the treches advice, that I used right away. The format is readable and visually clear. More than worth the price. I hope my competitors don't buy it. Franklin is the guru of good practice!

Excellent grouping of ideas. The author doesn't talk down to you, doesn't talk over your head, and doesn't have the ego of saying he knows everything. This is current, timely, and easy to read. The adhoc diagrams are exactly the kind of medium that is effective to architects. I'm buying another and requiring the entire office to read it.

This book is a wonderful source for architecture firm owners, and employees working in small firms. The "hands-on" diagrams give you the clear vision on proceedures, rules, and guides. Included in this book are tips, and tools you can use to organize yourself, understand cause and effect relations, and help you work more efficiently. Great not only to read, but I use it as a reference often. I have hundreds of books, but this is one of the select few that resides on my desk!

This book was very helpful in showing me the ins and outs of a 360 degree review system. Has the basic theory, how to implement the system, and ways t work around the resistance to change.

The book is excellent for development of policy for 360-Degree, why it should be implemented, and what steps to take before and after the feedback.

This is not an instructional book in the development of a 360-degree questionnaire.

The book provides excellent knowledge on what, where, who, when, and how. Highly recommended for knowledge, but not for building of the questionnaire.

Lots of ideas that can be transferred into one's real life situation easily.

"We wrote this book", write R.Lepsinger and A.D.Lucia, "with three audiences in mind. The first consists of 'human resources professionals' who are just beginning to look at 360-degree feedback as a means to address the business needs of their organizations. These are people who have not had much experience using 360-degree feedback to solve business problems and have many basic questions that require answers if they are going to use the technology successfully. The second audience consists of 'line managers' who have heard a lot about 'this 360-degree feedback stuff' and want to understand it well enough to determine if it is the right approach for their organization. The third group consists of 'more experienced HR professionals' who would like a compherensive reference work on 360-degree feedback that makes it easy to access the information they are looking for without having to skim through dozens of magazines and journal articles and textbooks."

In this invaluable study, authors organize their book into two parts :

(I). Preparing to use 360-degree feedback.

In this part, they :

i. offer basic information, including a definition of 360-degree feedback and a brief overview of its history and evolution.

ii. illustrate how a diverse group of companies (real cases) has successfully used 360-degree feedback to address different organizational issues, such as achieving business strategy, supporting cultural change, fostering individual development, enhancing team effectiveness, and identifying training and selection requirements.

iii. discuss and compare the two most common methods for collecting 360-degree feedback- interviews and questionnaires.

iv. focus on the use of interviews alone to collect data or as a supplement to the data provided by a questionnaire.

(II). Implementing a 360-degree feedback.

In this part, they :

i. focus on how to administer a 360-degree feedback process in a way that increases people's enthusiasm and ensures a high degree of confidence in the results.

ii. describe and compare three methods for delivering the feedback- group workshops, one-on-one meetings, and self-study.

iii. review what needs to be done after the feedback is collected and reviewed to ensure that recipients absurb the messages they have been given and take appropriate action.

iv. discuss the benefits and obstacles to using 360-degree feedback in HR management systems.

I highly recommend this invaluable study.

This is the best book on Architectural Illustration & Rendering. There is no other book like this. You'll see beautiful renderings from professional illustrators from around the world. If you use these techniques on your renderings or presentations.... you will stand out from your competition.

i thought this was a wonderfull book it will help me greatly in times to come. i also loved the descriotive nature of this book.

Dear mr. Grice:

I loved your book so much, that I have decided that this is what
I would like to do. I am unable to go to college, but I have completed architectural drafting at a local art school. What do I have to study to do renderings such as the type you have in the book? (10 stars!)

If you do get to read this, please contact amazon so that you
can answer my letter.
I tried to find a site where I could send you an e-mail, but
was not succesful.

Thank you so kindly.
Mrs. W

This book is absolutely fabulous! It does not give instructions
on how to do this type of work. It is only to inspire. If
you have a passion for learning architectural illustration, as
I do, you will reach the heavens after looking at some of these gorgeous drawings. There are illustrations in airbrush, pencil, watercolor, tempra, and by computer. If that's what you are
looking for, it's worth every penny!

The books are very detailed and take a lot of analysis... they are not written in a current Object Oriented Language... that was a disappointment but otherwise it is very good... just uses old "spaghetti code"

This fascicle can perhaps best be read as a sequel to Knuth's Volume 3, on sorting and searching, where he discusses trees. The fascicle extends that into how does one generate every tree. Of the four fascicles thus published, this might be the skimpiest in terms of current mathematical knowledge. Though to a practising programmer, trees are a vital construct and the book could well have germane analysis. And, as with his other books in this series, there is a tough set problems that can be just as instructive and interesting as the text.

Still, to perhaps compensate for the thin length, the book contains a distinctive section on the history of combinatorial generation. Knuth delves into this subject while giving a deeper treatment of the maths than one would likely encounter in a popular text directed at a general audience. He cites the I Ching, as well as ancient Indian and Arab manuscripts. The I Ching is notable as it is still in print and likely to be familiar to many.

With the publication of this fascicle, the collective set of four would make a respectable book in its own right. However, Knuth is scarcely done yet. We can expect more fascicles, and soon, one might hope. And eventually, a hardcover.

The fourth volume in the classic ART OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING: GENERATING ALL TREES: HISTORY OF COMBINATORIAL GENERATION add to and expands upon a multi-volume work on the analysis of algorithms in classical programming, updating sections of the set using a series of small fascicle books. This covers the generatio of all trees, a topic covered in the first three volumes of ART OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, and provides over a hundred new exercises to programmers.

I've known about The Art of Computer Programming volumes by Donald E. Knuth for some time, but I've always avoided reviewing them for fear of not being able to do them justice. But after being contacted specifically by the publisher asking if I was interested in the latest - The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 4, Fascicle 4 : Generating All Trees--History of Combinatorial Generation - I decided to give it a try. For the right audience, this is really good stuff. But I can tell you that I'm not it...

Content:
Chapter 7 - Combinatorial Searching: 7.2 - Generating All Possibilities; 7.2.1 - Generating Basic Combinatorial Patterns; 7.2.1.1 - Generating all n-tuples; 7.2.1.2 - Generating all permutations; 7.2.1.3 - Generating all combinations; 7.2.1.4 - Generating all partitions; 7.2.1.5 - Generating all set partitions; 7.2.1.6 - Generating all trees; 7.2.1.7 - History and further references; Answers to Exercises; Index and Glossary

Don't refresh your browser thinking the Content section didn't load properly. There's just chapter 7... For those who don't understand the "fascicle" concept (like I didn't before getting this volume), it's a small book (120 pages) of material that either updates writings in previous volumes or a "preview" of material that will eventually be rolled into a single volume (in this case, volume 4). Knuth has a lot of information he wants to convey, and by using fascicles, the public can get a steady flow of information and help shape the continuing evolution of the series. Interesting concept, and one I can appreciate. Another review stated that this was probably one of the "skimpiest" volumes in terms of mathematical knowledge. If true, then I fear what will await me with future installments. To get the most of out Knuth's work, you really do need to be well-grounded in computer science and mathematical theory. Every page is populated with numerous formulas to prove the subject matter, and I'll admit to being completely lost in most of it. That doesn't mean the book isn't good. It *is* excellent work, but I'm definitely not the target audience. I don't come from a formal computer science and mathematics background, so I'd have to really slog through everything from page 1 with supporting texts in order to fully benefit from it.

It wasn't a total loss for me, though... I enjoyed the History and Further References chapter, where he shows the tree theory and how it affected such things as literature and culture through the ages. Whether the ancient Chinese had all this in mind when developing the I Ching is open to debate, but the theory and underpinnings of trees is definitely there. And for those readers who really want to work through and apply the material, there are exercises galore at the end (with answers graciously provided for those who get stuck). You could likely set up a college level course based on this (and associated) book, and it would be foundational to a computer science degree.

So, for the right audience, this is the type of book that will allow for weeks of thought and learning. But if you're more like me, someone who deals more with business systems and development (without a comp sci degree to back it up), you'll likely miss most of the value here.

The book is outstanding and i picked up this audio version used, for my car as it doesnt have a CD player. Old car. The audio book is great and the core essentials are all there. Very well done and great for those who end up collecting unread books due to time pressures. Not sure worth it new but got mine for a few dollars on cassette.

I had some trepidation about reading what seemed like another dry book for business analysts (my job,) but found this book to be much, much more.
The author recounts stories from IDEO, to give examples for the ideas presented. I found myself wanting a job at IDEO after reading only a quarter of the book.
The lessons that can be learned from this book extend beyond business analysis. A CEO, manager, teacher, priest, parent or any type of leader will be able to gain insight and make positive changes in their organizations using the ideas presented. If you're in any type of leadership role, READ THIS BOOK! If you're not, buy it for your boss - You'll benefit from it too!

I read this book awile back during a vacation and couldn't put it down. I only read no-fiction books and this one was the best I'd ever read. I've never felt compelled to review a book before, but his one was worth it. It was very well written, informative as well as inspirational. It made me want to go work at Ideo. Well worth your time.

Thanks Tom! We're just starting a new technology business and we're wanting and needing to create the sort of culture that you have at Ideo. Our industry is dynamic, so if we're not dynamic then we will not succeed. For us that means innovate - deliver true value to our customers - learn - innovate - deliver more value to our customers, in a continuous cycle. You have given us some practical ideas about how we can ingrain innovation into our culture as we grow. Thanks.

I had the opportunity to speak to the author and he is a very intelligent and humble person. During our phone conversation he gave me valuable information that he'd normally extend during his seminars. Additionally, the book is a must-have if you want to advance in this very aggressive and challenging world. As you know, we are constantly matched up against those to have an intellectual edge as well as acute (s)wordplay, to your advantage this book will give you the necessary verbosity to handle various situations you make face. Overall, if utilized properly one will characterize you as being well-informed, polished, articulate, eloquent and intellectual. Bottom-line, your words are symbols of ideas and represent you and of course- define you! -Leon B.

This book is a definite must have for anyone seeking to bolster their vocabulary and communication skills. I have recommended it to several of my friends and co-workers.

The Articulate Professional is a book that should be owned by anyone seeking to enhance their communication skills. It is not just a vocabulary book. The pages serve as a comprehensive easy to use guide with a strong focus on commonly used words in the business world. I especially liked the format of the book. Examples are provided for each word with its main, formal/semiformal, workplace and casual usage. I have recommended this book to other managers in my company as well as friends. I give this book the highest rating possible. It is an excellent tool.

I've been trying for several months to find a resource book that would assist me in developing a much stronger vocabulary. Having purchased 3 other books, I can say this one is a proven winner. Unlike typical vocabulary material that provides the standard definition and possibly the phonetical spelling of the word, this book also incorporates the word into several, not one or two, real life sentence structures. They include the formal definition, work place examples, casual usage and then other examples. The book also groups similar words together. Although these words are not ubiquitous, they have day to day applications. I found the book so helpful that I have purchased it for my employees. The only suggestion would be to include synonyms for the words. Otherwise it's a great book.