Enterprise Books

I was impressed that this book helps and leads you through the "Maze". An excellent reference book to add motivation and make you think about what you are doing and where you wish to go.
This would make a great stocking stuffer!!!

Entrepreneurial consultant and motivational speaker JoAnna Carey's Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze Of Life is a presentation of 52 brief yet helpful keys to dealing with the stresses of daily and professional life. A relaxing and practical self-help guide, Rat Race Relaxer offers invaluable tips ranging from "Love others for who they are NOT for who they can Be", to "Exercise regularly!", to "Look to the future, plan for the future, but live in the present." A welcome addition to any personal self-help/self-improvement reading list, each idea captures the essence of a positive note in this first-rate motivational guide.

I had the opportunity to read "Rat Race Rleaxer" one recent Sunday afternoon and although I have found other self help books to be informative, this one seem to fit into many aspects of my life at the moment.

Instead of being long and drawn out to make the author's point, "Rat Race Relaxer" was consise and brief. The points that the author wanted to get across were apparent and not filled with excess fluff. I was able to read its entire content in just an hour so that I could grasp its message before putting into use some, if not all of its suggestions.

I now find myself remembering comments or points within the book that relate to current situations in everyday life. I will be using the author's recommendations as they apply to me. For the reader looking to gain some insight into existing within the rat race, this will do it without coming off as preaching.

Ready Or Not...Get Set Go is the ideal "how to" book for anyone aspiring to become their own boss through launching their own business enterprise. Debra Hamilton and Sharon Taylor effectively collaborate to offer the reader an informative and practical guide and reference to starting and operating a successful business as they survey such essential issues as the legal structure for a self-owned business; "law & taxes"; do-it-yourself evaluation for personal qualities necessary for running a business; the start-up costs of a small business; creation of an effective and goal oriented business plan; marketing; and much, much more. If you are contemplating having a business of your own, begin with a careful reading of Ready Or Not...Get Set Go -- it will be the best investment of your time and money that you could make in deciding whether or not to go out on your own in today's highly competitive marketplace.

In comparison to other books that I have read and/or bought, this one is highly recommended as a must read. The book is informative in so many ways. Example: the chapter on zoning was to the point minus legal jargon; and the usual redundant babble that is of no value for being an entrepreneur, it's only to fill up the page. I've found that most books on being an entrepreneur graze over the topics and don't get to the meat of the subject, but this one does, which is what I wanted and needed. I'm the type of person that needs specifics and for things to be in plain terms - - I'm not one for beating around the bush. This book is a definite keeper, and I use it often as a reference at home and in my new company as an entrepreneur.

I've bought a lot of supposed "entrepreneur guide" books that have not been a waste of my money and I started to pass this one up. The lady at the book fare convinced me (after 20 mins) and I'm glad I made the investment. I'm writing this review because this book was a God-send for me, and I KNOW it will be for you. It's plain, simple and straight to the point; no unnecessary jargon, no dictionary or attorney needed for comprehension. I followed the steps listed and believe it or not EVERYTHING WORKED! My company is up and running, and it's only because this book is written in layman's terms, nothing technical. Yes, it took 2 years to find a true entrepreneur guide, but the timing could not have been better. This one is highly recommended. I've bought copies and passed it on to other up and coming entrepreneurs and it has benefited them all as well. Sheila Taylor-Downer, THANKS for writing this book; Great Job!

As a fifteen year veteran of entrepreneural ventures (all reasonably successful) and after scouring through scores of books on assessment, planning et al, this book leaves me speachless.

Explore the pages and you'll find yourself happy you found a modern, practical and valuable resource. Buy it, worth it's cost after 15 minuets!

5 Stars is not enough for this excellent book. I read this book for a entrepreneurial course a year ago. However, it was after the end of school that I fell in love with this book. It is truly helpful for anyone with a passion for business and entrepreneurialism.

Look for me in the future, Chris Philippi, future CEO.
I will be starting a marketing consulting firm based in Northern NJ soon. Be on the lookout, this book has that kind of influence.

I teach a course in Managing a Consulting Practice and consult to a wide range of organizations. This is probably the most practical resource I have come across that includes everything - from beginning with an idea for the business, to the basics of starting a business, to what it takes to plan for and run a successful business. The book is full of practical examples and short "Personal Workshops" (e.g., "Personal Workshop 24: Setting a Price Structure"). The book is a great resource for someone who has business experience but has never started or run a business, as well as someone with a great idea but no business experience. I highly recommend this book!

This book illuminates the complex relationship between technology and society. A dangerous attitude among people in the sciences (and the arts) is that inventions are neutral, and society uses them for good or for evil. This book illustrates how it is much more complicated than that, and we should avoid being idealistic about technology.

The author shows how peoples' motives and attitudes can actually be embedded within the technology *itself*, and impossible to pull out after the technology has been implemented. It also shows how various technologies can have side-effects on society, changing people's attitudes. The belief that technology is born pure and then used for ideological goals is misleading.

Technology (not just man) has had an important role in the early emergence of a burocracy in China, startling psychological effects of the evening news, and racial segregation in the United States. You'll have to read it to appreciate the power behind these conclusions.

However, this book is not anti-technology, nor is it proclaiming an apocalypse. It offers real insights into how we must be aware of sociological and philosophical issues BEFORE we expand technological frontiers. Those in the sciences must stop saying "that's not my responsibility, I only invented it."

As well, people on the whole will be more aware of subtle side-effects of technology, allowing them to reap the intended benefits of technology in a more direct way. I repeat, this book is not anti-science. It is quite scientific and balanced in its arguments. I highly recommend it.

Simply put, this book has had a profound influence on my daily thinking and academic practice. Weaving threads from the construction of ancient Chinese Bronzes through the technologies that permeate contemporary Western society, Franklin builds a dazzling description of the way technology is intertwined in our lives, society and culture.

This book is essential reading for anyone studying Technology & Society or Ethics, and is a wonderful pleasure to read. Buy it!

Ursula Franklin performs an unusual service in this book. She relates technology to other fields of human activity and thought in a manner that is exceptionally illuminating. With her knowledge and understanding of technology, the arts, education, the humanities, literature, politics, the basics of human nature, you name it, she comfortably puts together subjects that too often are dealt with in isolation from oneanother.

I absolutely agree with the surprise of the previous reviewer.
I bought this from amazon.com in the mid-nineties and there were rave reviews even then. Maybe they were removed, somehow.

George Gilder, for all his wrong predictions and over enthusiastic boom time prophesies, really shines with this one.
He is such a good analyst and narrator of past events and their lessons - maybe he should keep there and not try to predict the future.

On the dullest of days, this book can uplift your spirits and infuse a feeling of positivity and optimism that I can hardly describe. The last chapter (Dynamics of Entrepreneurship) alone is worth ten times the weight of the book in gold. If you have ever attempted to create any type of change in the society around you (including starting a business), this book will bless you with a self-awareness and sense of destiny that you will cherish for a long, long time.

It is 12 years since the book has been out, I think it is time for George Gilder to write another update. This time with the heroic entrepreneurial stories from emerging markets like Taiwan, Korea, China and India.

If you're a George Gilder enthusiast and have not yet read the Spirit of Enterprise, then you'll want to do so. If you've never read Gilder and would like an introduction, likewise, this is the book to try. I've read several though not all of Gilder's books, and "Spirit of Enterprise" entralled and educated me, even more than Gilder's other great books. While I enjoyed "Wealth and Poverty" and Gilder's writings on technology, this book, which is about entrepreneuers and their inestimable value in our society, is simultaneously less demanding on the reader, and more engrossing. Read about an Idaho lad who went contrarian, took risk, worked his tail off, revolutionized commercial agriculture, and then, incredibly, seeded one of America's best technology companies. Gilder's enjoyment of such tales is palpable. His explanation of their relevance is erudite. The book is a pleasure, one of the best I've ever read.

First off, I'm shocked that no one has yet reviewed this book here. For those Gilder fans out there you know George's inimitable style of erudite and hip prose. He doesn't disappoint in this volume. So what's it about? It's about the determination of individuals to succeed. It's about people who fail, and fail and fail again but don't give up. Some of the stories he tells are almost beyond belief. The story of the Canadian geologist (I don't remember the name--it's been 21/2 yrs since I read it) frankly inspired me. The chapter on Cuban immigrants to Miami should, if there was any justice, be anthologized widely. The story of the founding of the Honda Corporation stunned me. Gilder's book made me take a hard look at my assumptions about what causes success in the business world.

Excellent book! What a great read. I think there is something for everyone in this book, from pastors to someone just looking into Christ. I highly recommend it!

A must read for the recovering Christian and clergy interested in the harvest of recovery souls. The good pastor has done a wonderful job of capturing what it is to be "in recovery". Well done and very readable.

I've had the privilege of coaching Dr. Mike Erickson in small group/cell ministry, and I can testify that the principles he lays out in this book are principles that he's actually lived out in practice. This book will show you how to go beyond starting recovery groups in your church. It will highlight how to get recovering people set free by the power of Jesus Christ and then prepared to lead their own recovery groups to continue the healing process. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Joel Comiskey, Ph.D.

Part history lesson, part biography, and part scientific lecture. Yes, it's heavy, and yes, it's likely to be a bit expensive, but in my opinion, it's worth it.

The author, Dr. Frank Shelton, offers a rare perspective on the US atomic testing program - he's watched and taken part in more tests than many historians can name. The writing style can seem a bit dry in places, but given the subject matter, I though it was a wonderful job.

The book is very well organized, lavishly illustrated, and has enough references that it would take years to chase them all down. It's an invaluable research tool, and I'd say a must-read for any serious student of the US atomic testing program.

Dr. Shelton's book covers the major American tests from 1945 through 1963. The book consists of his reflections on the tests and the people involved in them. Fascinating reading.

I've had a serious interest in the history of nuclear weapons for many years now (ever since high school, about 20 years). It's been very exciting to see a lot of previously classified information become available, thanks to the FOIA and the end of the cold war. I've managed to amass a quite substantial collection of historical and current documents about the US nuclear weapons program.

Dr. Shelton's book was first published in 1989, and contains a wealth of information about his own work from the early 1950s to the last atmospheric tests in 1963, along with additional information about the subsequent underground testing up to 1989.

He details each testing event with an excellent summary of the historical context, and goes into substantial detail about each shot, results, and his own thoughts and opinions about the motivations and rationale.

It was a wonderful read, and fills in a lot of gaps that other sources just can't supply; after all, he was there, and has a far better understanding of the whys and wherefores than someone trying to write about events 30 years later. I found his comments on the high-altitude tests to be extremely valuable, especially as little in the way of first-hand accounts is available anywhere else. Sometimes it's too easy for people today to just dismiss a lot of the "goofy-sounding" test programs; the context was very different back then.

The book is beautifully printed, and includes many gorgeous color photographs. It's expensive, but I feel the price is more than justified by the contents and its size.

If you have any serious interest in the history of the US nuclear weapons program, you won't regret this purchase.

One of the downsides of 12 years of instruction in French was the unfortunate inability to find a Spanish verb when writing a parent letter in Spanish in teaching situations. This book is awesome. Want to say a comment on a weekly report (that I do send every week for these at least 25 years) or want to give good or thoughtful comments this book allows you to use Spanish for those parents that need this. And in the process you learn to speak at least this functional aspect of your teaching job.
I do like playing in tech, spending an hour everyday on Rosetta Stone to learn to speak to families is not quite the same as this. This is sort of old school pen and pencil, paper,a report copying out style of what you want to say from a plethora of possibility. Very useful. It isn't elegant but it allows functioning. Clear meanings, written appropriately. Positive.
Mine is 20 years old, well 1990. But I had to go here and buy two for peers that were looking with envy at reporting time.
Yes, you can use the Babelfish. I just prefer this. I am at 49 fairly old school. I took it to the docs office recently sitting for my chemicals and did five report cards.
Pretty reasonable $ used. Comments cover discipline, praise,need improvements, reading, math, social skills, curricular areas. Very comprehensive. I wish I had the Family Letters in Spanish as well.

This is my new best friend. It helps so much during parent conference time or for writing notes home. It has so many different phrases to choose from and is very specific and easy to use. I recommend this for any teacher who needs to communicate with Spanish speaking parents.

I am a librarian at a bilingual school. My teachers love this book when report card time comes. It helps them put into words what they need to say on the report card in a very professional way. I highly recommend it for school libraries and teachers. Since it is in English and Spanish it works well for all teachers.

Rescuing America: The Bipartisan PathThis is an outstanding book. Readers of all ages will find this book insightful. Many of America's serious and compelling issues including Social Security, Energy, Medicaid and Defense spending are discussed. Each chapter details what the program/issue is, how it has been handled and then the author suggests sensible solutions. The last chapters focus on certain elected officials and groups that have consistently proposed bipartisan legislation and their efforts to continue to work in a bipartisan manner to come up with real solutions. Reading this book allowed me to better understand the serious but workable problems facing America today and the reality that bipartisan solutions are the only way to solve those very problems.

Well written and thoroughly researched, this book provides a thoughtful commentary on the political issues currently making headlines during this campaign season. Suggested solutions are provided, with the marked interest in the good of the country, not in the favor of one political party over the other. Perhaps if the lawmakers were able to set aside their political differences and recognize the major problems that America will be facing in the not-very-distant future, then some headway can be made. This book is a great guide to get started.

Awesome book. Collects in useful format full details on all serious proposals for resolving America's biggest governmental problems. An essential resource and must reading for the next US President and all in Washington who wish to lead. The book assembles all the data and all the ideas from both sides of the aisle and beyond on how to resolve each of the country's primary govenmental challenges. Suggests guidelines for devising acceptable and responsible legislative solutions. A masterwork!

This book provides a good overview of Web 2.0 technologies from a business viewpoint, yet also provides some concrete examples of the application of those technologies -- like a Yahoo! Pipe for obtaining stock quotes. Personally, I would have liked to see some of the other end-user-oriented mashup technologies (Microsoft Popfly, Dapper, and Google Mashup Editor) given more than just a mention; but I understand that this is not the focus of the book.

The emergence of Web 2.0 from earlier technologies and web business models is nicely explained in the first chapter, which makes you want to read more.

Although the book is well written, I was put off initially by the layout, which starts off rather like a text book with lots of dense text on each page.

Tony Loton, author --
Working with Yahoo! Pipes, No Programming Required
Mashup Case Studies with Yahoo! Pipes
Mashups Made Easy with Dapper: the Data Mapper
Introduction to Microsoft Popfly, No Programming Required
Creating Google Mashups with the Google Mashup Editor (GME)

As a Web 2.0 professional who assists customers in their application of Web 2.0 in an enterprise / business context, this book is extremely valuable. In addition to my efforts to improve understanding of Web 2.0 with my customers, I recommend this book as a means to provide them with a solid foundation and understanding of Web 2.0 (beyond the hype and misinformation out in the Wild, Wild Web) and how these approaches and technologies can provide value in an enterprise context. Fact of the matter, Web 2.0 as a concept is an umbrella over a wide variety of concepts and technologies. In my experience, many IT and business professionals are unfamiliar with Web 2.0 in general or are familiar with one or more in a consumer (outside of work) context often not realizing that they are using elements of Web 2.0. In both cases, most haven't considered if or how Web 2.0 could be used to improve their organizational efficiency, drive down costs and improve customer / partner satisfaction.

I'd have given this book 10 stars if possible, it is by far the best Web 2.0 for business book available. If you work for a company that has customers, employees and/or partners (facetious but true) you owe it to yourself to read this book. Web 2.0 is really game changing, companies that "get it" and use it, will be more efficient than their competitors will ever be. I've experienced this first hand many times over the past few years.

Its a easy read too, with a good balance of business, value and technology topics (and common sense, practical and pragmatic too, which is often missing in "technology for the Enterprise" books).

Regards,
Richard

First Disclosure: I'm one of the authors.
Now, this book should be in every CxO's briefcase. It covers all the buzzwords of "web 2.0" and "enterprise 2.0" while relating it to specific business scenarios. Much more than google maps for my employees, it delves into business intelligence, user productivity, process efficiency as well as managerial efficiency. Sections 1 and 3 are conceptually oriented and do a good job of explaining meaning and application of things like crowd sourcing, wikis, and the semantic web. Section 2 is rich with explanation of the alphabet soup of APIs, languages, protocols that seem to swarm web 2.0 discussions. The book never becomes preachy. An easy read in a 3-4 hour flight.