Open

This collections of stories about Leo Bebb, is an interesting vignette of life. Whilst Bebb swings from villan, to conn man, to careing pastor, the author is really showing how we all have good, bad and ugly in us and God's grace is active in our lives despite this.

The stories are wiritten in a earthy and human way. They will make one laugh, cry and be disgusted at the characters. If one holds a curious facination for human life, in particular in the 1950's - 1960's then this book is for them.

A truly good read.

A very concise review of the 1998 British Open.

Illustrated in full colour and written by golf's leading journalists, it describes how Mark O'Meara withstood the harsh winds at Royal Birkdale to win the 127th Open Championship in a play-off against Brian Watts.

A good and interesting read for the avid golf or Mark OMeara fan!

My daughter is only 9 months old and she loves "Bugs." Not only is the 'open sesame' characteristic of the book unique, she thinks it's funny when the bugs come out of nowhere. This book also starts counting since each page has one more bug. The recommended age is 4-8, but it's never too early to start your children reading will all different kinds of books.

Like most Americans, I thought illegal aliens were destroying the country. For most of us, TV was the source for that opinion.

This book changed my mind.

Its a compliation of articles by a somewhat limited variety of modern-day authors about the history and consequences of tight borders. You don't need an economics or political science degree to enjoy and understand the book immensely.

The book covers arguments against immigration and free trade such as; the drains on Social Security and Welfare by "lazy" immigrants, the "stealing" of jobs within the borders and the export of jobs to foreign countries, the increases in crime supposedly associated with immigration, the consequences of import/export tariffs and quotas, and artifically high wages relative to the world. All are justifiably made in defense of the American way of life, but simply fail to comprehend the nature of free trade and immigration as presented in this book. No credible argument is left unturned. Each is dealt with fairly and persuasively. Where appropriate, numbers are introduced.

The true nature of international trade and its costs/benefits along with an accurate representation of immigration are concisely and beautifully presented. All that is left of the opposition is a pile of emotional isolationism.

The drafters of our so-far successful Constitution agreed with the principles in this book; others would do well to find out why.

Sung Y.W. gives an excellent and critical analaysis of the economic relations between Hong Kong and the PRC, based on available statistics. Even though the econmic data he uses is out of date by now (1991) this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how to read between the lines of statistics provided by both Hong Kong and the PRC. For a more recent paper see his article titled "The Hong Kong-Guangdong Connection" in Cohen/Li 1996. Admittedly for non-economists like myself reading through statistics and methodologies of interpretation of these is not the easiest of tasks. However, his conclusions on the trade relations between the two are extremely valuable. The only aspect I personaly find he could have further elaborated on, concerns the political links that affect both PRC and Hong Kong economies.

Ron has succeeded in giving us a peek behind the scene and mindset of the world of comedy. The oneupsmanship between comedians that seems to be so much a part of their world that leads to a near disasterous outcome all in the name of charity. The characters are clever and real...I felt like I knew or had seen them all somewhere before. Buy one for yourself and give one to a friend you won't be disappointed.

This book will telly ou how to be takin seriouskly by the residents fo the local area where you liv. As a food service worker, lots of poeple compete fo rthe jobs that I wqaant. Not amny have a cover leeter gooder than mine thanks to htis book. Very good by it for you and give it to yoru frineds and relatives. They will thank you with a good job!

My seventeen month old loves books, especially the Boom,Boom Dinosaur book. The first page starts off with a "soft" boom-boom. As the pages turn, the boom-boom gets louder as the dinosaur gets closer. She adores this book, and, it teaches her the concept of how a noise gets louder as the object gets closer.

Distance Learning: Making Connections Across Virtual Space and Time, by Anthony G. Picciano offers insight and guidance for all the faculty and administrators who need to plan and implement distance learning curriculum. Picciano, provides an academic outline for distance learning programs and specializes in educational technology, organization theory, and research methods. This text provides guidance for planning and implementing distance learning programs. Picciano welcomes the reader by defining distance learning as a vehicle to overcome the physical separation of teacher and students due to geography obstructions in an educational process. The author illustrates the fundamental concepts of distance learning, planning, program development, and the basic technologies used for his intended audience of administrators, managers, teachers, distance learning coordinators, chief information officers, and media specialists. Anyone involved in initiating and developing distance-learning programs will find this book beneficial. Picciano identifies planning as one of the most important issues dealing with distance education. In designing and developing new distance learning programs, additional consideration is necessary as to the goals and objectives of academic programs, hardware, software, facilities, staff development, student demands, curriculum integration, and finances. Evaluations need to be an on-going process in established distance-learning programs, including new digital technologies, and modernized alternatives. The author explains that planning should occur in all educational organizations and may be formal or informal. He outlines how educational organizations will function in the future and how they should prepare accordingly. Picciano highlights that the most effective type of planning for any educational organization is to make faculty and staff aware of the plan and the actions necessary for achieving important benchmarks. Picciano recommends an inclusive and participatory approach. Faculty, support staff and other administrators must be involved with the planning stage, in starting a new program, or expanding or modifying an existing distance learning program for it to be successful. According to Picciano, the four major elements of successful planning include comprehensiveness, collaboration, commitment, and continuity. The planning process is continuous, as technology and society changes, so must the plan. Developing a written plan guides everyday activities, and must be updated when necessary. Picciano's model for planning for distance learning includes the college, the governing board, and the environment with respect to cultural values, goals, applications, hardware, evaluation and feedback. This model teaches the development, uses, goals, and objectives for planning a distance-learning curriculum. Distance learning is dependent upon technology for delivering the instruction and as technology changes, so must the approved written plans and goals. Two good resources Picciano included in this book are A Guide to Designing a Web Based Distance Learning Course and online information resources on distance learning. Picciano stresses the need for written planning and evaluation and encourages his readers to adapt their newly learned skills to their specific situations. Each chapter includes a summary, case studies, and a reference list. The Companion Web Site is user-friendly and organized by topic area. This site provides the student with topic overviews, an Electronic Bluebook that sends homework directly to the instructor's e-mail, a message board, and links to other websites that relate to each topic. This site also includes links to professional organizations and topic-specific content that enhances material found in the text along with a resource for the instructors to create or revise their syllabi called the syllabus manager. The organization and content makes this text extremely functional as a distance-learning guide. Logically organized, Pinocchio begins with an introduction on distance learning, definitions, and the history of distance learning before diving into areas that are more technical. The hardware technology and media chapter is a great resource for new instructors and students to this area. The comparison of distance learning technologies is understandable and presented in a usable format. The instructional design chapter is the most complex topic in this book. Picciano urges developers to involve specialists for content, media, and technology help. A discussion of the two models for instructional development with associated graphics is easy to understand. Picciano provides an informative discussion on synchronous vs. asynchronous communication with different types of instructional interaction included. A limited discussion, buried at the end of chapter four, on tests, student assignments, and grades leaves the reader wanting more information. "Who is actually taking the distance-learning exam," an extremely important topic, is briefly mentioned by the author. Picciano leaves the reader lacking guidance in an area of great concern for most distance educators who need this rarely discussed topic addressed by distance learning specialists. The text concludes with a chapter about the future of distance learning and a guide to designing a Web based distance-learning course. This text provides many of the necessary tools for everyone involved in distance learning and encourages the reader to take advantage of all the wonderful work provided by Anthony Picciano. Distance Learning: Making Connections Across Virtual Space and Time as an excellent distance learning guide for anyone wanting to learn how to develop effective distance learning curriculum. Picciano stresses his book provides a foundation from which educators will look ahead to the powerful potential of distance learning as an increasingly appropriate approach for meeting the ever expanding needs of our students.

Owen Harrison is no longer just the man who wrote the book on Open Space Technology — He’s now the man who wrote the books. Expanding Our Now is Harrison’s second crack at explaining the organizational theory he developed after watching a celebration in an African village. Basically the theory boils down to this: A group will organize itself to solve a specific problem if you sit everyone in a circle and get out of the way. The nuts-and-bolts of this process were described in Harrison’s earlier, Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide. This time around, the author gives us a bit more history and theory. Your reaction to this book will depend to a large extent on how ready you are to accept OST as a concept and how open to new management techniques you are in general. But even if you’re not in the market for newly minted organizational theories, we at getAbstract.com recommend that you read this book, if only to absorb some of its innovative suggestions about how to get the most out of that bane of corporate life — the meeting.