EE Books

These books are absolutely wonderful. This is the type of book for ages from middle schoolers to adults. The stories are easy to follow and it's so addicting you'll find yourself scrambling for the other books! I loved the movies and the books both for different reasons but I highly recommend reading the books as well. It was great getting lost in the bond of young friendship, first loves, and ambition. Things that are all too easy to forget about in the adult world.

Courtney P. review of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, March 16, 2008.

Four girls, Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bridget, had been loyal friends for as long as they remember. However, they have to spend an entire summer alone, because each girl has a different place to go. Just before they head their separate ways, they discover a pair of ordinary blue jeans that turn out to be extraordinary, because they fit each girl. They decide to share these pants during the summer by passing them around and keeping in touch with one another.
Carmen spends the summer at her dad's house, where she is unpleasantly surprised with his new wife, her two kids, and an entirely new lifestyle. Bridget is sent to Baja for a soccer camp where she falls in love with a coach who cannot love her. Lena goes to Greece where she meets a boy, Kostos, who is destined to be with her, but causes trouble along the way. Lastly, Tibby is left at home, working at a grocery store, and befriending a young girl with leukemia, who passes away. Each girl endures trials and tough decisions, but their bond is strong enough that each girl works through it. Even in the hardest times, the power of friendship can shine through. In the end, each of these friends end their summer even closer to one another, and stronger than ever before.

Great books, either singly or as a set. These are geared to the Tween girl readers (11-14). everyone loves them. There are now four volumes to the set.

I understand that this book is a classic of sorts in Theodore Roosevelt studies, but it was simply too long and long-winded to keep my attention (although I did read the entire book). He examines very carefully much of Roosevelt's foreign policy (see the review below mine if you want to read a couple pages of info), and for that I commend him. I just think it can be done in a more readable and concise manner. I recommend reading the works of Edmund Morris or H.W. Brands on TR instead.

"Theodore Roosevelt And The Rise Of America To World Power" consists of a series of essays covering major developments, policies and actions through which the Roosevelt Administration guided America into the realm of world power. I had read this book previously and reread it in order to increase my understanding of Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy. It is definitely worth a second read.

The first two essays cover Roosevelt's role in the rise of American Imperialism and America's rise to world power. Later essays deal with the cementing of the Anglo-American alliance, China, the Far East and Europe.

The two underlining themes of this book are Roosevelt's assertion of the Monroe Doctrine in the Americas and his search for balances of power elsewhere in the world. His defense of the Monroe Doctrine is manifest in the resolution of the Venezuelan Dispute of 1902 during which TR prepared to go to war with Germany in order to prevent it from establishing a foothold in South America.

An early major step in TR's foreign policy the establishment an alliance with Britain. This move was a natural, as many in America's ruling class, not including TR, were Anglophiles. TR recognized that common language and interests cemented Anglo-American relations. An alliance with Britain was essential to the establishment of a balance to the power of a rising Germany. TR's restraint during the Boer War, despite his sympathy for the underdogs, was repaid in Britain's cooperation in the Venezuelan Crisis and its face saving, but ineffective, support of Canada during the Alaskan Boundary dispute of 1901-3.

The main American interest in China was the maintenance of the Open Door policy, which could have been closed had any one nation attained the upper hand in China. Despite his belief in white supremacy, it was Roosevelt's America which used a portion of the Boxer reparations for the benefit of China. In his effort to establish a balance of power in the region, TR supported China in its struggles against Russia over Manchuria.

In the Far East, in addition to China, TR's main interest was the negotiation of the peace treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, an accomplishment which won him the Nobel Peace Prize. Even more than a general desire for peace, TR was motivated by the desire to establish a balance of power in the region. He recognized and respected Japan, an ally of Britain, and actively supported them in the early stages of the war. He recognized Russia as the greater threat to the U. S. and was pleased to see its thrust into Asia blunted. His intervention with both the Japanese and Czar Nicholas was instrumental in preventing a breakdown in the Portsmouth Peace Conference, an action which saved Japan from bankruptcy and Russia from further military disaster. After the war, TR acted, through the cruise of the Great White Fleet, to impress upon an emboldened Japan the folly of taking on the United States as it had Russia.

Perhaps TR's most assertive foreign policy initiatives involved his role in the Algerciras Conference on Morocco in 1905. Ignoring the Monroe Doctrine's provision that America would stay out of European affairs, TR became an active intermediary in a dispute in which America's only direct interest was to keep Morocco open to American trade. America's most vital interest was to keep Germany from obtaining excessive dominance in Europe which would enable it to attempt an expansion into Latin America, particularly into areas with large German populations.

An assessment of TR's management of America's rise would have to conclude that he was generally successful in his initiatives. Germany was kept out of Venezuela and power in Morocco remained divided. Japan achieved its sphere of influence in Korea, and the Open Door remained open. It is true that TR did not vanquish America's rivals, but he did maintain the peace and enhanced America's position during his reign. World War I did not erupt until 5 years after he left office and neither did Japan attack America not Russia become a major rival until another Roosevelt Administration over 30 years after TR left the White House.

I found Professor Beale's work to be the best study of TR's foreign policy which I have found and, as my Amazon reviews indicate, I have read quite a bit about him. I recommend it for any serious student of TR or the history of American foreign policy.

"Theodore Roosevelt And The Rise Of America To World Power" consists of a series of essays covering major developments, policies and actions through which the Roosevelt Administration guided America into the realm of world power. I had read this book previously and reread it in order to increase my understanding of Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy. It is definitely worth a second read.

The first two essays cover Roosevelt's role in the rise of American Imperialism and America's rise to world power. Later essays deal with the cementing of the Anglo-American alliance, China, the Far East and Europe.

The two underlining themes of this book are Roosevelt's assertion of the Monroe Doctrine in the Americas and his search for balances of power elsewhere in the world. His defense of the Monroe Doctrine is manifest in the resolution of the Venezuelan Dispute of 1902 during which TR prepared to go to war with Germany in order to prevent it from establishing a foothold in South America.

An early major step in TR's foreign policy the establishment an alliance with Britain. This move was a natural, as many in America's ruling class, not including TR, were Anglophiles. TR recognized that common language and interests cemented Anglo-American relations. An alliance with Britain was essential to the establishment of a balance to the power of a rising Germany. TR's restraint during the Boer War, despite his sympathy for the underdogs, was repaid in Britain's cooperation in the Venezuelan Crisis and its face saving, but ineffective, support of Canada during the Alaskan Boundary dispute of 1901-3.

The main American interest in China was the maintenance of the Open Door policy, which could have been closed had any one nation attained the upper hand in China. Despite his belief in white supremacy, it was Roosevelt's America which used a portion of the Boxer reparations for the benefit of China. In his effort to establish a balance of power in the region, TR supported China in its struggles against Russia over Manchuria.

In the Far East, in addition to China, TR's main interest was the negotiation of the peace treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, an accomplishment which won him the Nobel Peace Prize. Even more than a general desire for peace, TR was motivated by the desire to establish a balance of power in the region. He recognized and respected Japan, an ally of Britain, and actively supported them in the early stages of the war. He recognized Russia as the greater threat to the U. S. and was pleased to see its thrust into Asia blunted. His intervention with both the Japanese and Czar Nicholas was instrumental in preventing a breakdown in the Portsmouth Peace Conference, an action which saved Japan from bankruptcy and Russia from further military disaster. After the war, TR acted, through the cruise of the Great White Fleet, to impress upon an emboldened Japan the folly of taking on the United States as it had Russia.

Perhaps TR's most assertive foreign policy initiatives involved his role in the Algerciras Conference on Morocco in 1905. Ignoring the Monroe Doctrine's provision that America would stay out of European affairs, TR became an active intermediary in a dispute in which America's only direct interest was to keep Morocco open to American trade. America's most vital interest was to keep Germany from obtaining excessive dominance in Europe which would enable it to attempt an expansion into Latin America, particularly into areas with large German populations.

An assessment of TR's management of America's rise would have to conclude that he was generally successful in his initiatives. Germany was kept out of Venezuela and power in Morocco remained divided. Japan achieved its sphere of influence in Korea, and the Open Door remained open. It is true that TR did not vanquish America's rivals, but he did maintain the peace and enhanced America's position during his reign. World War I did not erupt until 5 years after he left office and neither did Japan attack America not Russia become a major rival until another Roosevelt Administration over 30 years after TR left the White House.

I found Professor Beale's work to be the best study of TR's foreign policy which I have found and, as my Amazon reviews indicate, I have read quite a bit about him. I recommend it for any serious student of TR or the history of American foreign policy.

In these days, in which we are discussing and fighting over the issue of the financial crisis, nothing is better than this chapter of Milton Friedman "Banking History" which reviews carefully and seriously the causes resulting in The Great Contraction 1929-1933, and sent the world into the greatest depression of modern times. Men who do not know history are bound to repete the errors of the past. We hope it will not happen due to Dr. Friedman excelente study

It is somewhat a morose sense of timing that a new edition of this book just came out. The authors write what is probably the definitive study of the monetary factors behind the great depression, and hopefully, provide enough information to avoid a repeat. As should be evident by the subject, a highly technical book, even for someone with a background in economics, not light bedtime reading, but well worth reading for someone with an interest in the subject.

This book is a written the context of the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt. However many of the attitudes, methods and ideas presented in the book can be found in today's Middle East. The author has an excellent command on the istory of the region and also on the attitudes feelings and emotions of the period he is desciribing through a narrarative account. The book is fiction but it feels too real to be that

Zayni Barakat is a historical novel set in Mamluk Egypt. Having lived in Egypt (where I read the novel 11 years ago) and studied Egyptian history, I can say that the work more than accomplishes the primary job of historical fiction--it transports the reader to another time and place, making that time and that place come alive.

However, Zayni Barakat is, like much of Naguib Mahfouz's later work, a pointed commentary on modern Egyptian politics. In particular, it is the story of police surveillance and what it means to live -- and work for -- a police state. Al-Ghitani captures the dis-ease and perversity of the Nasserist police state admirably. The novel thus deserves to be read both as a diversion and as an education in contemporary Arab politics.

After reading this book, there is so much more to Barabara than just the talk shows she has done over the years. This bring her up front and personable. Almost like the View and all the other jobs she has had. Barbara is a woman ahead of her time. She is to be congratulated.

BW drives me up the wall every damn time she plugs this freakin' book on the View. If it's not her, then it's Whoopi or Elisabeth. As much as it pisses me off, this book is worth a read. Of course the chapter covering the Star and Rosie controversies is here, but that's just the icing on the cake. I learned alot of things about Babs I never knew before, like her complicated but loving relationships with her mentally challenged sister and adopted daughter and all of her marriages. All 4 of them. The chapters about her many specials and interviews over the years are especially interesting. I was very surprised that BW "let her hair down" so to speak and revealed things like her interracial affair. So Miss BW isn't as squeaky clean as we thought, huh? I guess there's nothing more I can say that hasn't been said already. Pick it up!

I wish I could tell Barbara myself how much I liked her book. It sounds like she is sitting right there telling her memoir. Good read.

Got this for my wife as an anniversary present, and she really loves it...

but the neighbors say to be careful because the suction cup that holds it is an invite to criminals

This is my second copy purchased. GREAT, warm book....like curling up with your fav quilt and having a cup of tea. I got the first to give as a gift and got so many raves from the recipient I decided to get a copy for myself. LOVED IT

HomeportI have never been disappointed by anything Nora Roberts writes and Homeport was another most enjoyable read for me.
I have read all of her books and now have to wait for the new ones to come out; however, some of the very best of the best, I re-read while I'm waiting. You will never go wrong choosing anything by this author.

I truly enjoyed Homeport. The characters kept you engaged and I found it hard to put dowm. Great reading.

On the whole, this book was very enjoyable. I liked the pace, and was intrigued by NR's description of the various places the two main characters visited. The characters were likable, for the most part, and the only real quibble I have is the depiction of Ryan's family, which seemed rather like a compliation of stereotypes.

I'd forgotten how much I like this book. Gotta love those gentlemen thieves--art thief in this case. Ever since I had a conversation a while back about the appeal or not of outlaw heroes, I've been trying to figure this one out. I certainly wouldn't want one IRL, appealing as they are to read about. I'm a terribly law-abiding citizen. It's the bad-boy appeal, of course, but it's more than that. I think what really grabs me about these heroes is their absolute confidence in their ability to sneak in and out of secured areas, and the intelligence it takes them to do so. They're also, without exception, non-violent. They're not thugs. And while they're not complete Robin Hoods--they don't steal ONLY to give to the poor (though many of them do contribute heavily to charity to assuage their consciences), neither do they steal from anyone who can't afford it, or isn't insured. Sure, that would end up making everyone else's insurance rates increase, but this is fiction--I don't
have to worry about it.

Okay, now that I've defended why I like Ryan Boldari, on to the rest of the story.

I love the way Ryan acts toward Miranda. He wants something from her, but then he meets her and feels protective toward her, sympathetic of her problems, but not condescending, and not letting the problems be an obstacle. That's another reason why I like Ryan Boldari so much--he's supportive but trusts that Miranda can solve her own emotional problems--he just supports her, doesn't try to fix her.

And it's a good thing Ryan is so great, because boy, did I HATE a lot of other people in this book. Especially Miranda's mother. Too bad we didn't get to see what they ended up doing with the Dark Lady, but I'll bet Ryan ensures "mom" ends up eating her share of crow.

I was just reading something about "write what you know." Well, I'm pretty sure Nora doesn't know how to authenticate &/or restore artwork, or how to cast bronzes, but boy, is she good at making you think she does. Maybe an expert would find flaws, but for the average reader, she writes with such authority that I believe. Some authors you can tell that they researched something. They'll have lots & lots of details, and it doesn't come out as if the author knows what she's talking about--it comes out as "darn it, I did all this research, & by Jove, you're going to read it." Nora's a definite expert at appearing to be an expert.

Hmmm. Haven't said much about Miranda. I wouldn't have reacted to her mother the way she did--especially at the beginning. Taking the chastisement for being "late" and not countering with her mugging. But then, she's grown up with this all her life. She's been made to feel ALL HER LIFE that she doesn't matter. And so her reaction is spot-on. Excellent characterization, IMO.

And Andrew & Annie. Very sweet romance. Andrew was again, excellent characterization. Alcoholic, feels like a failure, and then the growing self-awareness. I could so relate to Annie when she arrived at the gala and felt so out of place, like her clothes were all wrong and she didn't fit in.

So. Bottom line: fabulous story. One of my favorites.

Miranda Jones is a world-renowned art historian in demand all over the globe. Ryan Boldari is a thief. When Ryan steals a piece that Miranda has validated, their paths collide. When Miranda finds out that another piece she authenticated is a forgery, she and Ryan are determined to find out what is going on. As they travel the world searching for answers, the stakes are raised when attempts are made on Miranda's life. There was a lot of information about the art world, but was necessary to follow the plot. I enjoyed the secondary characters also.

Suprisingly, the life of a CEO can be just like our own. The numbers are bigger. But I don't mean money. Lee Iacocca doesn't come off as someone living in luxury, even though I'm sure he's rich. Rather, that when he would get up in the morning to solve a problem for Chrysler employees, he was thinking about 420,000 of them. Still, the same worries: career progress, don't get blindsided by personal politics (he did, by Henry Ford II), and make sure to be home to enjoy family. And do a good job. If you want an uncompromising paean to capitalism, read Ayn Rand. But if you want a successful view, balanced by doubts and compromises, Iacocca's your man. The book's a page-turner too, and with all credit to William Novak, I sense that it's Iacocca's real life, and real character, that make for the exciting plot.

Lee Iacocca is best known for bringing back Chrysler from the brink of bankruptcy and taking $1 a year as a salary to show his commitment to the cause.

This is an important part of the book, it needed to be told. Also, Iacocca is a story of a man driven to work hard and become a leader. It is a bit egocentric at time, but that can be forgiven with the richness of the material. I found the book enlightening, entertaining and inspirational.

The inspirational part of the book is that when Chrysler is faced with impending tragedy the people all put together as one. It is disheartening that tragedy has to be a huge element in the success equation for many companies. This would be a tremendous book to explore.

Iacocca has some strong common sense weaved through this work. For example, Iacocca would prepare to hit the ground running by preparing for the week on Sunday evenings. Also, he notes that the speed of the boss is the speed of the team.

In another telling example during the almost collapse of Chrysler, Iacocca reduces his own salary to $1.00 a year to get support from the Chrysler workers and management. He says:

"Leadership means setting an example. He goes on to say: "I didn't take $1.00 a year to be a martyr. I took it because I had to go into the pits. I took is so that when I went to Doug Fraser, the union president, I could look him in the eye and say. "Here's what I want from you guys as your share," and he couldn't come back to me and ask: "You SOB, what sacrifice have you made?" That's why I did it, for good, cold, pragmatic reasons."

Overall, an excellent book with many powerful ideas worth embracing. Highly recommended!

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

He supported Bush, while saying Gore was a nut for believing in global warming. Thanks for your help, Lee... you Republican imbecile.

I have been playing golf for over 45 years and have read many books related to the golf swing. Joe Laurentino in his book takes a lot of the "mystery" out of teaching the golf swing. He specifically puts you at ease by stating that you don't have to swing like a pro to play a decent game of golf. The chapter on golf club path and golf club face angle are particularly enlightening. This book is a must read for anyone considering trying to improve their golf swing without going through a major overhaul.

Lee Iacocca was a brilliant salesman, a workaholic, and a resourceful businessman. Throughout history, at the heart of the American automobile industry there have always been men of advanced practicality that shaped the nation as a worldwide power; Iacocca clearly belongs among its best.

Iacocca's autobiography details early childhood, his entry as a salesman into the auto industry, time with Ford including overseeing the development of the Mustang, and saving Chrysler including details on the government bailout loan he negotiated to save the flailing company. There is no doubt the auto industry would look far differently had Iacocca never existed. His footprint will be forever felt and his life lessons should be part of any business study. Iacocca presents his life story in detail using a presentation style that is both appealing and unrestrained. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in business history.

this book have not reached the intended recipient till now(7/24/2008)expected date of delivery should have been 7/18/2008.
still waiting for the book.
thanks!
arnel garcia

It seems the main focus of these 'authors' is to sell Sun technology as opposed to educating developers. They force on you a technology that should be transparent to the education process. If I wanted to know about glassfish I would have bought a book on it.

I recommend this book cause really you will familiar with JSF and in all technology needed in web application, for me I review some issue with this book such as JDBC and LPAP.

I will give this book 4 stars, the one start losing for this book, cause really don't focus and mention enough the life cycle of JSF, for me I refer to another resource to can understand the JSF life cycle.

Although this book really great. I read some reviewer said the Sun Microsystems don't put their brand-name in product low level of quality, I agree with him. Allthing realsed from Sun Microsystems I believe it.

I found myself in a situation where I had to come up to speed quickly on JSF. Of the 3 books I found on Amazon (the other two being an O'Reilly book, JavaServer Faces by Hans Bergsten and the other a "Complete Reference" by Chris Schalk) this was the best. The O'Reilly book is wordy. The information is good but like many Java related tomes, more emphasis is on theory rather than practical application. The reference book had an index that is essentially worthless. This book has a lot of information but it's more difficult to find than it should be. You'd pretty much have to read the entire book to get your money's worth. Not what I look for in a reference.

Core Javaserver Faces gets down to business fairly quickly. It gave me the info I needed to fulfill the tasks at hand without being too lengthy. I've had very little Java experience in the past (although I have been a programmer for 20 years) so if I can glean value from this book, I'm sure anyone with programming experience can also.

I'm disappointed in that the book focuses to much on how to accomplish a task without telling much about the architecture, why and how JSF operates behind the scenes. This results in that you don't exactly know what goes on, and thus don't know how to solve other specific problems. This is primary reason why I'm looking for another book about JSF.

The book contains a lot of complete file code. Not necessarily bad, but keep in mind that the book might have less pure written text than you might expect.

What I like about the book it doesn't only cover standard JSF, but also well known third party frameworks, like Apache Tiles, Facelets, JBoss Seam. Although again, it's also on that part more a how-to.

Haykin is pretty well established in his area and he definitely produces high quality work. the book is quite complete. What I particularly like about this book is that it connects neural networks to other machine learning techniques, such as support vector machines, Boltzmann machines, independent component analysis etc. Another plus of this book is the presentation of algorithms. Haykin gives very detailed description of the algorithms presented. Even if you might not want to understand all the mathematical details you will be able to implement them.

An excellent entry level text on the subject. The author covers most aspects of neural networks, although not quite as in depth as I had hoped in some areas. Suitable for use as a textbook if you are taking a class on the subject, or as a self study book. Gets a bit too preachy and defensive about the practicality of neural networks. The author obviously cut his teeth in NN's during the 60/70's. IMO anyone who already bought the book doesnt need convincing that neural networks work. I recommend at least a working knowledge of calculus and statistical analysis.

If you are going to start learning neural networks, this is probably the best book with which to begin. It does a good job in how it progresses through the subject. It spends two chapters introducing the subject in a very complete fashion, then five chapters more on the subject of supervised learning with neural networks, and five more chapters on unsupervised learning. The final three chapters gets off into the subject of non-linear dynamical systems.

Although the book is very complete, it is also mathematically rigorous. To really understand it from cover to cover you would need to know - both conceptually and practically - calculus, linear algebra, adaptive signal processing, and dynamical systems, since this book assumes you already know these subjects and makes heavy use of their properties. Fortunately, to get a good basic understanding of what neural networks are and what they can accomplish, you won't need to understand the entire book. I found chapters 1-7 to be fairly accessible and self-contained. It is only once you get past the subject of supervised learning in chapter eight that the mathematics and the book get particularly difficult. Another problem with the book is that it abruptly goes from a forest to a trees viewpoint of neural networks. It will be working along in a very theoretical manner for some number of pages, when suddenly, out of nowhere, it will mention something practical or show an example that clarifies a great deal. Therefore you will need to read the book carefully.

My personal recommendation is that you go through the first seven chapters of this book to get a good viewpoint of the theoretical basics of neural networks and supervised learning, and then read Jeff Heaton's "Introduction to Neural Networks with Java" to get a good practical viewpoint on the subject. Then, if you need to return to the book for the more advanced chapters, you will be better prepared. It would also be best to use this book in conjunction with taking a course on the subject. I think it would be very rough going to try to understand this book via self-study alone.

This is the first book for everyone interested in the subject. A well-written and well-illutrated encyclopedia of Neural projects, including all the fundamental questions at the forefront of research in Neural Networks. I believe this is the reason for it beeing widely referenced by almost all the authors in the subject.

I used this as a textbook for a Neural Networks course I did in the second year of my undergraduate program in Mathematics and Computing.

My mathematical background till that point of time comprised Linear Algebra and upper level Calculus. This being rather 'limited' mathematical exposure, I found the book quite difficult to follow. It becomes harder when you are expected to convert the mathematical equations into working programs (without using tool-boxes or libraries, i.e.). The end-of-chapter exercises are pretty hard, and try to go beyond what the text talks about, most undergraduates may not be able be able to appreciate that. I think this is an excellent reference book for those who are pretty comfortable with Math. For undergraduates doing a first course in Neural Networks, I strongly recommend Timothy Masters' "Practical Neural Network recipes in C++". The math there is manageable, and yes, it comes with working code to make your life easier.

I have NOT read this book. I give it 4 stars since I admire the courage of the authors to let you review their data schemas. Reading the modeling done by others is still one of the best approach to learn data modeling. However, most of us can not share our design with you since they are valuable corporate assets.

For your information, I notice that the authors have built 4 model schemas on Microsoft SQL Server 2000. They come with your software of Enterprise Edition of SQL Server 2000. The four model schemas are: Sample Corporate Data Model, Sample Enterprise Data Warehouse, Sample Human Resources Data Mart, Sample Sales Data Mart. These schemas are of moderate complexity. For instance, Sample Corporate Data Model has more than 150 tables. This is a good case to study for those of you who are bored with Northwind. The other three data warehouse/marts models should help you to learn Microsoft OLAP/Analysis Services, too.

Of course these are very helpful since it gives you the oppotunity to play hands-on with the schema.

Now it comes the bad news. The model schemas contain no data:-). This of course limits the usages of these models a lot. My recommendation is to study also the Oracle sample schema collection, which contains twelve schemas: hr (Human Resources), oe (Order Entry), pm (Product Media), sh (Sales History), qs (Queued Shipping), qs_adm (QS Administration), qs_cb (QS Customer Billing (CB)), qs_cbadm (QS CB Administration), qs_cs (QS Customer Service), qs_es (QS Eastern Shipping), qs_os (QS Overseas Shipping), qs_ws (QS Western Shipping). These Oracle sample schemas do contain data ready for you to explore.

This is a good book to get the juices flowing if you are unsure of how to model certain business processes, but some of the models in the book are poor examples of database design. Some of the data warehouse models, in particular, are alarmingly bad, and don't follow some proven best practices.

I think the beginner database designer will get a lot out of it -- seeing the complexities in database design. The expert will get a little from it -- a good kick-start on a design, but you will be able to see the faults. Someone with a little knowledge that relies on this book too much, however, will be sorry.

Whether you are a beginner or have some experience in data modeling, this book can save you much time. It is absolutely practical and full of samples that you can use almost right away. I like the way the authors model people and organisations. The only thing that is missing here is demography/firmography which usually is paid great attention in data warehousing. I did not like the fact that the chapters on dimensional modeling only give an idea that there are modeling techniques other than ER-modeling. To learn them better I recommend one of those Kimball's books on dimensional modeling. So, this and other minor flaws gives the book four stars instead of five.

If you are looking for some generic data models, this is an excellent book. I have used this book in the last three projects I worked on. There are models on generic Ordering, Shipping, Sales, Product & Inventory, HR, and other applications.

This book provides excellent starting points for modeling basic business functions. I have found when modeling that it helps to ask another DBA's opinion on how they would aproach the same business process or data segment. This book serves as that second person. It provides proven models that can be effective for your own modeling activities. It is well worth the investment and then some.