Enhancement Books

John Kenneth Galbraith called this book "a source of first-rate information for the layman and a fine cautionary tale for bankers."

This fascinating book about the world of big-time banking is by the same author who published previously a study of major oil companies (The Seven Sisters) and the trade in international arms (The Arms Bazaar).

While this book was first published a while ago now, in the early eighties, I find that most of the material is not dated. The machinations of the world's "superbankers" is about the same today as this author expertly describes.

Recommended for all readers interested in finance and business, particularly on a world scale.

Although part of this book is out of date, it is still an interesting look into the dealings of the international banking community.
The author begins with a survey of the most important events in world monetary matters: the creation of the big banks in the Middle Ages, the crash of 1929, the foundation of the IMF, floating exchange rates, the power of OPEC.
The second part are comments and analyses of events in the nineteen seventies and eighties of the past century:
- The New York City debt crisis (as Walter Wriston put it: We have also our LDC's : our least developed cities)
- the recycling of the OPEC money surplus (Paul Erdman: What the Arabs cleverly have done is to put the New York banks in the front row of risk. In other words, if Zaire goes kaput, Chase Manhattan is in trouble.)
- the credit card business (one Korean business man built a whole apartment block on one card)
- OPEC: Milton Friedman predicted that the OPEC cartel would soon break up.
An interesting read, not only for historians.

I enjoyed the 2 very good chapters on Sport Vision Assessment and Training. A great book for a beginner to Sports Vision. Well writen and researched.

Very comprehensive text of sport vision enhancement. Anyone interested in helping athletes acheive their best potential should read this book.

I read Sex, Ecology, and Spirituality before reading this work. The Marriage of Sense and Soul is a reader friendly version of the larger volume. For those not well versed in the history of philosophy or the scientific paradigm, this book provides a clear presentation of Wilber's ideas.

While many who purport a postmodern world view attempt to critique Wilber negatively, Wilber nevertheless (in my humble opinion) is rock solid. Meaning his integral philosophy contains few holes in it. I don't pretend to understand the depth of his insight. But his comprehensive erudition along with his sage like understanding of the scope of consciousness is forthright and compelling. If we are to survive as a species it seems beneficial to integrate the world's wisdom traditions, along with the scientific paradigm, into an integral whole. Without an integral world view, it seems likely that we are doomed as a species - at least as we function together in culture. In fact, the culture of the future might look very different from what it does today given the nightmare of climate change unfolding before our eyes and the continued abuse of environmental integrity by corporations who function only on the principle of greed and profit without concern for sustainable practices.

Besides the obvious, Wilber is probably the brightest Cat on the planet and deserves a hearing if for no other reason than this.

This is in almost every respect an immensely wise and thought-provoking book, and one that deserves to be widely read no matter what your opinions about the appropriate relationship between science and religion. The book is an especially potent antidote for the silly, trumped-up Creationism vs. Evolution debates that plague us lately, fueled as they are by the drive for book sales and personal celebrity, and which really should be sanctioned by Vince McMahon and the WWE. This is a far more serious treatment of the science-religion divide, how it developed, and what can be done about it. That it culminates in a pipe dream is forgivable given the complexity of the topic, especially since the only realistic solution -- "epistemological pluralism" -- is described along the way; the reader need only pretend that Wilber landed there, rather than where, unfortunately, he finally does land.

Ken Wilber tries to show the way to the "integration" of science and religion, but it's not clear who he thinks is demanding that. A more realistic goal is for the kind of rapprochement between those two realms that would allow each to serve its own functions in its own sphere without interference from the other. Religion has no standing to make claims about how the natural world works, and science has no standing when it comes to questions of morality and meaning. The trouble we see between science and religion comes from one or the other overstepping its bounds.

In fact, since there is little or no conflict between science and Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, it is inaccurate to suggest that there is a conflict between science and religion in general. What we have instead is a conflict between science and certain religions, especially literalist forms of Christianity and Islam. When Wilber finally sets out his suggested path for integrating science and religion it turns that the key is for those problematic religions to -- Voila! -- become more like Buddhism and Vedanta Hinduism.

But the idea that Christianity and Islam are going to transmute into versions of Eastern wisdom traditions is pure fantasy. For example, he wants a more "authentic" Christianity, one which would jettison dogmatic details like the Virgin Birth and the bodily Ascension of Christ. Hmmm. Wilber operates out of Boulder, and in places like that -- Santa Fe and Sedona come to mind -- there will be a certain level of acceptance for ideas like that. But Wilber would find a different reception if he tried to make that sale in Chattanooga or Dallas or Tallahassee; it is entertaining to imagine the response to a parallel call for a more authentic Islam in Cairo or Riyadh or Islamabad.

Wilber is obviously a very, very bright guy, and he's immensely well-read. His account of the dissociations of modernity and how they developed is extremely interesting and full of insights. His analysis of why Hegelian idealism failed is one I've never seen before and may well be right. His critique of radical Postmodernism is terrific. But having done a masterful job in making the diagnosis, we end up being handed an unnecessarily over-reaching prescription that is pure fantasy. It's not that what Wilber describes couldn't work if put into practice, it probably would work; but its chances of being put into practice are zero. The mirror image of what he wants would be for science to suddenly decide that its true mission and purpose is to glorify God by discovering the workings of His creation. That would also integrate science and religion, and it is also not going to happen. Mutually respected separate spheres is the only plausible solution to the problem of how science and religion are to coexist.

Have you ever found a book that looked fairly interesting but completley blew you away instead? Where you finished the last page only to sit there in stunned silence thinking, "Holy...this is exactly what I've been looking for!" This was that book for me. After reading it the first time, I felt as if I should have discovered this slim volume in a dusty, darkened attic trunk like some long lost hidden treasure, rather than at a book store at O'Hare airport. It's the first book by Wilber I read, and since then I've devoured everything else of his I could get my hands on. Yes, it's that good.

'Sense & Soul' is a great place to take a quick dip in the deep blue ocean that is Wilber's Integral Philosophy. His grand idea is simple yet profound, and a Herculean undertaking: everybody's right (to a degree), so we'll gather the best of all knowledge, east and west, from both the past and today while discarding what doesn't work, and create something new and remarkable, an integral philosophy. The breadth and depth of his work to integrate the world's knowledge into a functional and coherent system is nothing short of staggering and delightful.

Wilber's vision expands and deepens while becoming more refined with each new book, and it is clear that what he is creating is a viable blueprint for a globally and spiritually aware future for this planet and it's inhabitants. 'Sense & Soul' is a beautifully clear glimpse of this vision. I can't recommend it highly enough.

From here I would move on to 'A Brief History Of Everything' and then perhaps tackle 'Sex, Ecology, Spirituality'. After that, you're on your own to cherry pick as you please.

The ideas contained within Ken Wilber's works are utterly transformative, but don't believe me, come see the future for yourself.

is pointless, inadvisable, and ultimately impossible. Very good writing, though. This may be the most gripping book I've ever read that was completely wrong from beginning to end.

Ken Wilber is quite possibly the most significant philosopher writing today. Yet his work is dense, academic, and difficult for those outside of academia or professional psychology to grasp.

With "The Marriage of Sense and Soul", Wilber writes a popular introduction to Integral thought, in which he outlines the basics of his philosophy- the "nest of being", interiors vs. exteriors, prerational/rational/transrational thinking, mystical states of consciousness, and the rest of the essentials of his philosophy. While there's still a lot of terminology to digest, and Wilber drops more than a few names that non-academics probably won't recognize, Wilber does manage to strip his philosophy down to a brief introduction that is far more elegant and feels like less of an abridgement than "A Brief History of Everything".

At the same time, I don't know if Wilber succeeds in pulling off the mission of the book- "Integrating Science and Religion." While Wilber does a fine job of defining science and the limits of science, his definition of religion throws out the very components of religion that are most relevant to the typical religious believer! He strips religion down to meditative contemplation, while rendering the other components of religion irrelevant to his model. Ultimately, his "integration" is only possible by redefining religion into his model. While Wilber's philosophy is powerful and coherent, (and hence I'm not ashamed to admit to being a "Wilberian") his explaining-away of religion makes the own purpose of his book impossible. You might as well ask Richard Dawkins (the famously atheistic evolutionary biologist) to write a book on the integration of science and religion- it would be just as unsatisfactory.

Despite this, however, the book does do an excellent job of presenting integral theory to a broader audience. As a companion volume, I'd recommend Robert Wright's "Nonzero" as another fine book on the integral vision.

In my opinion, you must know a bit of C# to really get everything in this book. But the book is very well written and makes a complete intoduction into the Web Services. I only had problems while coding the authentication examples, the rest, worked great. A must have if you are getting into the service oriented architectures.

I bought this book for one purpose. To learn SOA and WSE basics fast.
My background is senior software engineer and I've been working with .Net Web projects but not SOA. I was able to implement a WS Secure conversation between a web client and a web service in two weeks. Both using a common WS Policy document. The book gave me the basics, the understanding and the ability to implement WS Security. Though I recommend also to use the code examples provided by apress.com site related to this book.

/Magnus Backeus - Softronic AB - Sweden

A very disappointing book. After reading the back cover and flicking through I expected much more.

Despite what you might think the core of the book is actually how to configure security and policy for web-services almost a hundred pages is given to this topic.

Given that WSE is a "plugable" architecture there are no real examples of how to go about plugging in anything. Don't get sucked in like I did by thinking that this book will have some information on showing you how to plug in MSMQ as a transport, as in too many cases in this book this topic is out of scope.

This book should have been called "An Overview of WSE: and the current state of WS standards in .Net".

Poor writing. Poor diagrams. Poor editing. Poor typesetting. Misguided sample code. Misleading title. Inaccurate information. Life is too short to waste your time reading this book when there are so many better titles. Burned by Apress again. When am I going to learn...

This is the only book I am aware of that will show you how to correct all the inherent design issues (in terms of reaching an SOA) in using the 'default' Microsoft implementation of Web Services. It is astounding how many of my consulting customers I see who either don't know the WSE exists or know it exists but are reluctant to introduce change and stick with RPC style intrinsic Web Services in the base .NET releases. They lose SO MUCH and it is my job typically to move them to where this book describes (and I use it daily).

To do SOA correctly, it takes a shift in mindset that Microsoft does not really educate you on. Even the WSE documentation does not cover this. There must be other sources but I have not found them (to be clear I mean with such a Microsoft Focus - there are others but they don't have the details about the WSE 2.0 we need and he even shows how this can be done without the WSE in the beginning of the book - but I recommend using the WSE 1,000%).

For an SOA the XML-Schema is so important for both input and output of your richly defined services. As this book describes, UML is a create starting point (and the best tool I have found is an amazing tool called `Sparx Enterprise Architect' which goes from UML to XSD seamlessly).

1) If you are going to try to use Web Services, consider the SOA approach (they are absolutely not the same. WEB SERVICES != SOA by default)

2) This book will literally walk you through how you can make WEB SERVICES == SOA

3) It is not easy. Many are used to just adding a project and throwing an attribute on a method. You have MUCH more work to do, but the benefits are described in this book and they are well worth the effort unless you are doing trivial things with these technologies.

I know for a fact this will all get easier with VS 2005 (now a release candidate!) but for now, we must resort to these techniques (they are not all THAT bad). I know of at least one company that will make all this much easier (cannot say due to NDA but email me and I will see if I can get permission).

My clients often don't even know where to start, and they also fail to understand the importance of the WS-I for interoperability and what exactly an SOA is. Many believe it is just Web Services. I spend as much time educating as coding. Although this book is not really about interoperability, the WSE 2.0 SP3 today is required to reach WS-I interoperability (see the patterns and practices sample app on this), which is another reason you want this book.

In addition to this book (think in terms of 'Operational' - Code, 'Tactical' - Mid-Level Planning, and 'Strategic' - Longer Term Company Strategy) this is both an Operational and Tactical book. The strategic level leads us to Indigo. Well WSE 2.0 and WSE 3.0 are promised to get us there. So if you are still not using WSE 2.0, wow, just the fact you are not using the TCP channel and loosing all that potential performance is enough. But you are also not on the `train' of compliance Microsoft has made very clear and you are outdated, plain and simple. WS-I compatibility and a true SOA are motivations enough. If you are not using WSE 2.0 today (or 3.0 if you are using VS 2005) then you are loosing massive amounts in 'opportunity cost' and likely real cost.

See my recommend book list for more options and again, feel free to contact me for more info.

Kind Regards,
Damon Carr, CTO

Got a used one for $7.00. It was a good deal. The content on performance tuning is very well written and the explanation and the troubleshooting scripts are very comprehensive as well though I believe that since the scripts are available on the CD, there was no need to put them in text as well as that makes them un-readable. The coverage on indexed views is very minimal and I was hoping to read more about those. It worked out good for me though since I am an Oracle bigot and have been forced now to work on Microsoft's SQL Server and need to pick it up fast.

The scripts are good however the content wasn't up to the mark in some chapters. I had expected better coverage on multi-user locking issues.

Not a great book as it was made out to be. Some sections are ok but the text is very basic and is meant for beginners only.

The chapters on performane tuning is good. Some of the chapters that delve into other features of SQL Server 2000 are average. I bought a used copy and haven't been disappointed. Infact, I was looking for SQL Server 2005 books since I have to make a decision between moving to SS2k vs SQL 2005 but could not find good books on SQL 2005 that dealt with the new features of that release. This book as well as Kalen Delaney's book worked out well for me.

A very nicely written book which covers most of the new (now old:-)) features on SQL 2000. This helped me in moving from MySQL to SQL 2000 and I plan to move my database instances to SQL 2005 now.

I found the book a valuable read and feel I've already benefitted from diet adjustments.

The advice given is worth listening to. I did. I am 58 and tested prior to the use of Androstenedione and after, The results were great. I was at the lowest level of testosterone to start and after 6 months of 50mg of Ando per day, It was raised the middle level, Just where I wanted to be. L-Glutamine and Creatine are other supplements to be considered for older men, When used in correct doses and exercise bring good results. I have more studies on my website. Roger Mason, a Scientist has other good books on Amazon check them out.

This is an excellent presentation, aimed at a lay audience, for the role of testosterone replacement and supplementation for male and female health. The author clearly knows the field backwards and forwards, and presents a balance view on each supplement and approach discussed. I also thoroughly agree with his view on weight training, which can be summed up in a question one posed to Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ah-nold's answer: "Am I too old to train with weight?" "You're too old NOT to."

Unfortunately, HR 207, originally introduced in 2002 as HR 5564 and re-introduced in 2003 as HR207 by two Republiscum Congresscritters, will result in the ban of almost all the supplements he writes about.

Sorry, guys; it was nice while it lasted.

The problem with this book is that a number of the testosterone enhancing supplements the author recommends are no longer allowed to be sold pursuant to Govt FDA regs---therefore much of the book is simply out of date and somewhat obsolete.

A lot of the percursors mentioned in this book, namely androstenedione, are no longer legally available in the U.S.

You can find better resouces on the web rather than buying this book.

I hope Mr. Evjen will put out an updated version of this book when WSE 3.0 hits the scene. Being new to web services I grabbed a used copy to get into WSE. I found this to be a well written book with great examples in both C# and VB (about time!). However, those great examples are using WSE 1 so you will find code that is obsolete. An updated edition with the same plain language explanations and examples would be 5 stars, so keep your eyes open.

This is a must have book for any Microsoft developers or architects doing work in the web services space. This book is by far the best reference for using the WSE. After reading the book I couldn't wait to start using everything I learned.

This book is really an incredible reference for WSE!!! Not only does it cover all of the areas of the WSE, it is written in a manner that is very easy to read and contains a wealth of really well-written demos (both in C# and VB) that demonstrate each feature of the WSE. If you would like to learn about WSE, this book is an absolute must have. I would have rated it 6 stars if I could.

If you are developing web services, and are concerned about security issues, this is the book. With lots of working examples, and clear explainations, you will gain knowledge about how to implement security in your Web services.
I highly recommend the book.

As a person who finds it hard to fit in meals between appointments, I found this book to be an outstanding nutritional resource. Tribole really packs this book with helpful comparison charts, such as comparisons of energy bars (please expand!), best bets in frozen cuisine, and brand-name snacks. The "one-minute specials" recipes, grocery shopping tips, and fast-food best bet chart were also extremely welcome. There is a section for weight-loss too, though it doesn't take over the book, which is broad in scope for all readers to enjoy. In fact, this is the most practical book on nutrition for busy people with real lives that I have seen. I highly recommend it.

This was very disappointing - most of the tips are applicable only to the normal 9-5 socceer mom types - does nothing for those living and working in high-stress, high pressure, long day, frequent travel jobs - stock brokers, traders, IT personnel. Recommend the Wall St. Diet more real world - real time solutions.

The third updated edition of EATING ON THE RUN offers a host of tips on how to eat well despite a hectic schedule. From options for speedy grocery shopping and recipes which streamline meal preparation time to tips on eating right while away from home and insights on different diet perspectives, EATING ON THE RUN is more than a manual for busy people: it offers all the basics on how weight is lost and kept off, for families and individuals alike. Any library will find it a popular pick.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I rarely recommend a book, but I'm feeling that I must now! The book is called Eating on the Run by Evelyn Tribole. This book brings weight management down to its barebones--you learn what your body needs as basic nutrition, how to eat and feel satisfied, the problems with diets and vitamins and how they can hurt you, dispels myths, and how to apply good eating habits efficiently w/o trading taste or satisfaction. You know me, I LOOOOOVE food but I'm just not much of a cook. And like everyone else, I'm just trying to figure out how to take care of my body.

This isn't a cookbook, but there are several recipes throughout the book--many and enough to have you up and going with good eating habits. Since it is geared to busy people, it's an easy, straightforward read that really helps you to understand weight management and how to apply it. In other books, I usually learn a lot then forget it because it just isn't realistic.

The author has a regular column (Recipe Makeover) in Shape magazine, is the spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, and qualified for the 1984 Olympic marathon event. Therefore, she has the credentials.

So, in my most sincerist verve, I totally recommend reading this book as a way to change eating habits and understand weight management for yourself.

I have two jobs and I travel 3 to 5 hours a day for work. Oh, yes I am "On the Run". The Author gives some GREAT insight into making small yet very powerful changes to help me make better food choices. I am very glad I have her book and I would recommend it to anyone else who does not like to cook, is always on the run and has very little time to dedicate to meal preparation. The Author hits a Home-Run... She did not get 5 out of 5 because that would mean the book was perfect and come on what book or anything is truly perfect? Great Job ! ! !

Hardcover and bound so as to stay open, The Diamond Color Meditation is a perfect travel companion, great for train rides or during lunch break at work. I find that I feel more focused and deal better with such stresses as electronic bookkeeping with the aid of this easy-to-use tool.

This is one book I can re-read and never get tired of. Well done Dr. Diamond.

I've had this for a month now and use it daily. I find it quickly and simply gets me to a place where I feel the meditation is working to get insights I haven't accessed before. I read a review of it on merliannews.com: "...the author has designed this system to overcome the anguish and bring about deep healing....You may feel an immediate shift in the first reading/meditation, or a sense of the old wounds loosening and softening. If you continue for several days, more good effects continue to roll in - the colors are by turns soothing, energizing and healing." That convinced me to work with the book and I think it is simply fantastic!

This is a truly remarkable book. Dr. Diamond presents original insights and a philosophy that is inspiring. The meditation itself is a beautiful experience-one I look forward to using regularly throughout the years to come! I am already experiencing tremendous positive benefits from this book.

The Diamond Color Meditation is a revolutionary approach to meditation by one of the world's great pioneers of holoistic medicine. It is deceptively simple, so much so that I believe most anyone could do it and benefit. It certainly does not require any previous experience of meditation and, indeed, is very different from the usual "passive" Eastern-derived approach. More important, the benefits are immediate, long-lasting and profound.

The reason for this is that the Meditation goes the heart of our life problems by helping to alleviate what Dr. Diamond terms our existential anguish, the root cause of all human suffering and disease, both physical and mental. The result is our Life Energy is raised at the deepest level.

I cannot stress enough the brilliant simplicity of the approach and its effectiveness. Doing the Meditation on a daily basis helps my entire day, enhancing my creativity, relationships and general functioning. I understand that it is the fruit of years of research and is yet another example of the astounding originality, insight, and therapeutic efficacy of Dr. Diamond's work. I strongly recommend it to everyone.

HMMMMM.....I went back after reading my book to look at why the other reviewers recommended this book so highly. I was quite diappointed to discover: 1) They are all from NY 2) Two have only reviewed one book (this one) and the other two have multiple books from Dr. Diamond on their review list. It isn't that the book is totally valueless, it just does not warrant the solid 4 star reviews it is receiving. (At this juncture I can only assume they are less than unbiased.) I always look at the reviews a book is receiving and it appears that I need to increase my scrutiny when there are not a lot of reviews to read over.

Overall this is a good book but the title is misleading. It assumes that you are working with Photoshop and Illustrator. Most the examples given rely on the use of Photoshop at some point in the process. Some examples rely almost entirely on Photoshop. I currently do not own Photoshop so when I received this book I was rather dissappointed. It really did not help me learn much about Illustrator. I also bought the Illustrator 8 Bible and thought that it was a much better book.

I haven't finished the whole book...but it is well written. The CD in this book actually works...unlike a lot of other books with CDs that I have purchased.

Great book. Every page must be read thoroughly, because each page is packed with vital information that you don't want to miss. There seems to be no filler... just good information. The tutorials are well written and complete. They show common pitfalls to avoid, and sometimes show you more than one way to do things, and the benefits of each way. I found the book "most" useful in it's explanations and tutorials for going between Illustrator and Photoshop. A good chunk of the book is devoted to this. These chapters, plus a couple others also require you to use Photoshop. So if you don't own Photoshop, this book may be a disappointment. The book covers many features of Illustrator, but not nearly all of them. Such a book would be 5 times as thick and expensive. But what it does cover is very well done. I am a much better Illustrator user after reading this book.

First of all, the book is not 900 pages as listed above. It is 490 pages. But those 490 pages offer a wealth of information and technique.

I had just finished Illustrator 8 Classroom In A Book (still the absolute BEST book for beginners).

I wanted to improve my output by a few notches, but I was getting very frustrated finded a book that would help me to reach that next level.

I needed a book that was somewhere between the basic lessons of "Classroom in a Book" and the "draw an image and scan it into Illustrator" lessons found in "The Illustrator 8 WOW Book" (which pretty much made that book useless for me).

Well, if that sounds familiar, then you need this book. It adopts the format of the classroom in a book series by giving you projects to complete in a step by step format. These are definitely not your beginner lessons, though. The output from these lessons could build your portfolio.

It labels itself a book for intermediate to advanced users, but don't let that frighten you. The authors were thoughtful enough to still include the shortcut keystrokes after each command.

Another great feature of this book is that it includes chapters on PhotoShop, and the pros and cons of working with each software package, as well as when you should use one over the other.

The lessons are in black and white, but there is a full color gallery that shows all of the project images in finished form.

There are a few typos, and a few commands that just don't work, but anyone with a basic knowledge of Illustrator should have no problem working around them.

I really can't say enough about this book. It was just what I needed to elevate my knowledge and skill to a higher level, while leading me step by step through the process.

I wouldn't hesitate to purchase any other books by these authors.

I don't know what these other people are reading, but it sure isn't this book. The wording in this book contains a lot of mistakes and if you don't have intermediate skills in the program, you will have a hard time understanding it. Secondly, some of the examples are very cheezy. I was expecting some really cool stuff, but that's not what I found. They're just intermediate how to's that don't impress me. Maybe I was looking for something different and bought the wrong book. I only bought this book because of the other reviews. Shouldn't have trusted them. Finally, the disc in my book is missing the entire chapter 3 samples. I can't do any of the tutorials. Someone needs to teach these people more coherent writing skills.