Open

This book is self-serving. One must look at some of the people Soros funds with his money including the Democratic Party and people involved in gun control/confiscation in the United States. If you think gun control is a good idea, check out what has happened to the crime rate after guns were banned in the UK.

Anyway, Soros was convicted of insider trading in France in late 2002. He is appealing and claims he is innocent. A lot of people in jail also claim they are innocent. Avoid this one.

Here are two reasons to read this book --

1) Learn why George Soros, one of the world's wealthiest men, a billionaire financial speculator, says that dogmatic belief in the so-called "free market" is every bit as dangerous as a comparably dogmatic belief in Marxism-Leninism (a topic Soros knows something about, given that he grew up under a Marxist-Leninist government in Eastern Europe).

2) Learn about the philosopher Karl Popper, a beacon of rationality in a tribalistic world. Soros is an intellectual follower of Popper, author of the renowned "The Open Society and Its Enemies," and Soros attempts to apply Popper's thinking to the current crisis of global capitalism. Whether he draws the correct conclusion in every case is less the point than the serious thinking involved. Popper is widely misunderstood to be an advocate of the free market. What he is actually in favor of is freedom of thought -- skepticism of any received dogma, including the dogma of the Free Market, to which many now say There Is No Alternative.

Rubbish, says Popper, and so says Soros. A legal, regulatory framework is required. Without the appropriate regulation, the result is the "gangster capitalism" of Russia, and of Enron. Along with Nobel Prize-winning economists Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz among others, Soros is absolutely right in his basic point, and is making a contribution to the construction of an appropriate institutional architecture for an increasingly global society.

The real message here is that the our prosperity and our easy way of life is not guaranteed by our being members of a rich and productive society. There are real reasons, embedded in human nature, why our modern economy has teetered on the brink of collapse several times in the last fifteen years. Read this book together with "Maestro : Alan Greenspan's Fed and the American Economic Boom" to understand that it has been repeatedly left up to a small number of people to respond to genuine crises with risky fixes to keep our financial system from collapse. Soros' application of "reflexivity" to market behaviour helps us understand that this will happen again and again. Someday the right people won't be there or the risky fix will not work. Whether Soros' call for international banking authorities and guarantees is feasible is an important question that won't be answered until a lot more people understand that all it will take is time and normal human behaviour to bring it all crashing down.

This book provides a computational geometry visualization library, covering topics that I had a hard time finding good resources for. Solid modeling, swept/extruded surfaces, and boolean operations are all explained. Overall, I liked the presentation; my only complaints are that the book reads a little like a translation (the authors are apparently Austrian) and that the sample programs on the CD(and there are a lot of them!) could be a little better documented.

This book is for people who need to learn about advanced geometry, and are not scared to look at some code in the process (not all is explained in detail in the book). The book describes data structures and methods used in the code (which you receive on the accompanying CDROM) to create and manipulate complex geometrical objects. This book is not about OpenGL programming, though the code uses it to display the results.

WARNING: The authors started programming the library in PASCAL. They used the p2c translator to create the C code for some 'older' parts of the code. Also the older parts are written in GERMAN. This is what I find the only flaw in this book, because it makes it harder to read it in some cases.

I'm looking forward to version 2.0 of this book which is probably released somewhere in spring 2001.

An extraordinarily valuable book for any one wanting to create Open-GL scenes. Unlike many Open-GL books that stop after presenting the basic Openg-GL figures, Open Geometry provides numerous complete source code examples of complex and interesting shapes.Want to display the horns of the greater kudu, Moebius strip, Klein bottle, complex mechanical motion? Then this book is for you.

Of the nine Open-GL books I own, this is by far the most useful.

a student of industrial design and looking for information on UI and instructions, this book is great in that it shows a variety of examples of instructions that are good/bad. very colorful and interesting pictures, not alot of specific information though; alot of good quotes and perspectives on instruction information.

I was looking for theory; so I was initially disappointed, but once I got past that I started enjoying it as a catalogue of both best and worst practices. It's funny. There's a particularly good example of how to use a toilet bib.

This is not one of those 'How to design instructional material for Dummies' books (if it was I certainly wouldn't own a copy) but a beautifully designed and printed book with hundreds of illustrations and diagrams showing how designers have attempted to explain, mostly visually, how we should handle everyday technology. Not only technology but simple stuff too, page eighty-seven shows the instructions, usually printed on tissue paper as I recall, on how to complete one of this little wooden puzzles you can buy in arcade shops, this one is for a camel.

Instructional design is serious stuff, a matter of life and death in some cases. The fold-out on page forty-seven shows forty-one examples of those emergency exit and life jacket cards you find in the seat pocket facing you on a plane. Although they all provide the same information, the type of illustration and layout is different in each example.

Simple instructions can be the hardest to put across, just how do you depict, in a simple visual way, the action of washing out your mouth with a glass of water, page 126 shows how with a profile of a boys head and four arrows describing a circular motion printed on his cheek, his hand holds a tilting glass with the water.

Here is a lovely book for graphic designers to leave on their coffee table.

Maybe it's my adult tastes. I'd picked this book up after several years to finish it off, I'd started with The Ninja back when I was a teenager, and I feel like I've grown up with the hero of the book, Nicholas Linnear. I was told there's now 5 books in the series. I just hope the rest aren't like White Ninja. Though a wonderful writing style, I found the book lacked imagination. Some of the scenes became so unrealistic, put there to inject a sense of drama and climax, but looking out of place. The climax to the book by the way was awful. What a complete disappointment. It slowly builds, then nothing. Nicholas does his usual three fingered gut thrust and monkey blow, but no twists, nothing that makes you think wow, that was a good read.

1) Tim Matheson isn't necessarily boring to listen too, but nowhere near the acting and voice over abilities of Roddy McDowall as a reader on the L. Ron Hubbard works. Different voices and more "acting" on the voice inflections of the characters (fearful, excited, nearvous, etc) would have made this a more enjoyable story.

2) A "popular" story that includes Ninjas? Yeah, right! Well, this is the case here...this is a very popular work but it is more of a crime-drama with a heavy emphasis on romance/pornography. Thought I'd mention this in case you have different expectations of what the story is about.

3) The ninja portion heightened the action and suspense as these "unstoppable" forces of good and evil work towards a face off. Anyone experienced (really experienced) in martial arts will get an appreciation of the power of the ninja characters and their art.

4) Can anyone say, "SEX!!" Wow! There was a lot here even in the abridged audio book version. Obviously not for everyone regardless if it is "more realistic" or not or however else it can be justified.

5) Some interesting characters...more is spent on the psyche of the "bad guys" and thus you can't wait to see what they do next.

I LOVED 'The Ninja' and 'The Miko'... 'White Ninja' is the last GREAT Nicholas Linnear novel. Nicholas faces marital troubles when his past Japanese flame returns... Very detailed descriptions of the mountains in Japan... makes you wish you were living there...

To review this book, I must first tell a story. When I was a teenager ( awhile ago ) I enrolled with my Afghan mix in an obedience class. She was not a bad or unruly dog, but I thought a bit of obedience would not hurt. The class was "Koehler based" and the harshness of the methods turned a playful, happy dog into a terrified shut down dog. I also got to see dogs being choaked until they nearly passed out, "hung" ect. What a great example to show to a kid. I used to get queasy before the class and my dog would hide. Looking back, I actually think one of the trainers might have been a genuine sadist, but what does a 16 year old know other than "my dog is now much worse than she was". We were told to read several of Koehler's books which I did and I could see where the trainers were coming from. However, these methods *do not * work on all breeds! You can ruin a good dog! It took quite a while for my dog to recover from that Koehler based class.
Anyone who has a Greyhound, Saluki or any other sighthound breed should not use Koehler's methods! I can't say this more strongly. There are other options. Experts in these sensative breeds now agree. I now have a Whippet very well trained using clicker training. I shudder when I think of my freaked out Afghan hiding when the choke chain and leash came out or freezing in terror.
This book and Koehler's methods might work for "hard" stubborn dogs, or for police work, but be careful or the dog will end up worse, and you'll put more work into just bringing it back where it was. Proceed with caution!

I have used many different training methods over the years with several different dog breeds and have found Koehler's method of training to be 100% effective 100% of the time. I attend an obedience class with my current dog, Blue, (Aussie) two times a week and have done this for over a year. The trainer I work with uses this method in his classes and I have personally seen it be totally effective on every breed ever brought to this class. (The class is composed of puppies through seniors in every level of training.) My instructor himself states that he is not the reason that this method works but the love and praise on the dog that makes it work every time. I can honestly say that if you do love your dog, read Koehler's first book and any others he has written and them follow them exactly. There is no way you can go wrong and the bond you will form with your dog will be stronger than you ever dreamed imaginable. My dog isn't a service dog exactly but having trained him through Koehler's method has made him a valued member of my family capable of helping me with my children and many other daily responsibilities that I have. This method, when you understand it, is the best way for you to love your dog and enjoy working with him.

The first time I read Koehler's books I thought they sounded harsh. But after thinking about it and trying his methods I have found them to be sound. I own several Doberman Pinchers and his methods have been invaluable to me. Dobies can be a difficult breed to handle because they are protective by nature and can be agressive. His methods have proven time and again to be effective in handling my dogs. I have shown my dogs in different compations for obedience and have a display board full of ribbions to prove his methods effectivness, many thanks to Mr. Koelher. I recommend reading his first book on basic dog obedience to get a good understanding of his methods before moving on to higher levels of training.

I picked this book out at a local Borders, in the philosophy section. I wasn't anticipating the copious amounts of psychology, but it was still a good solid read.

Patricia, whose computer I am using, is my friend. She loaned me your book and I want to tell many people that it is beatifully written and full of wisdom. I came to the USA from Vietnam in 1977 with very little knowledge about philosophy or psychology. Since then I have learned about American and European ideas.

My brother, who came here with my mother and my sister and me, was very ill. We found him a doctor who practiced psychology like Dr. Freud. After many years, he became healthy and a father. He explained to us the ideas in your book long before I read it but I did not understand them. He worked very hard to live his life well he said. Now, after studying your book, I think I understand pretty well what he meant. I am happy that you can write well about such ideas. Bless you and Dr. Freud and Plato. We owe our happiness to people like you. Probably many do.

Many take issue with Lear's "defense" of Freud, but I see it differently. Lear is not so much defending Freud as he is using the example of Freud-bashing to remind us to continue to question what we think we know about reality. The human tendency is to look for answers, and that is good for us as a species. In our search for order, patterns, and understanding we have learned a great deal about the nature of objective reality (the natural world)...but the basis of scientific pursuit is test and test again; question and question again. There are scientists who continue to refine the measurement of Pi...we don't reach a point where we can simply assume that we know, and we can't interpret the work of Philosophers or Scientists with shallow prejudice and expect to come up with a true understanding of their contributions. Freud's writings are complex and convey a great deal. Many of his ideas were false ones, but that doesn't negate the value of the work he pursued. It doesn't erradicate the value of the questions he asked or the paths he suggested (either through his error or his truth) to others.

The most important aspect of Lear's work; the most profound insight in all of his varied writings comes down to this:

If we want to believe we are right, that we know what is what, then we need not question, think, integrate, or work intimately with complexity. However, if what we care about is the truth; if what we are relentlessly and endlessly pursuing is a scientific, integrated understanding of reality; we must think hard, question everything, and integrate endlessly and joyously -- embracing this, our human challenge.

As Tom Stoppard wrote in _Arcadia_, "It's wanting to know that makes us matter. Otherwise we're going out the same way we came in."

Pekka Himanen has written an extended essay on theme he thinks is the changing force and imperative within the creators of the information society. He calls it the Hacker Ethic to contrast the Protestant Ethic made famous in Max Weber's classic text.

I think the theme the book is about is extremely important and most people in our society do not understand its effects and functions at all. To some degree Himanen is on the ball and makes the picture clearer to a layman. The first part of the book is about the work ethic where Himanen defines what Hacker's Ethic is about. This is the best part of the book.

Himanen starts defining Hacker's Ethic as a general attitude towards work in the information society. For example a car mechanic can be a "hacker" in his field of expertise. Described by Himanen, in the center of hacker ethic is information sharing. It is held as a duty to share interesting information with like-minded people. In some sense the hacker ethic is a counterforce to the market culture. Hackers enter into information creation and exchange motivated by enthusiasm, joy and passion, not just money. Working times of a hacker are individual and optimized. In overall, hierarchies and rules from above are not driving creative individuals in the information centric fields of our society.

Great stuff. But in some directions Himanen's essay is unfortunately not very profound and lacks touch of reality. This comes in part two which is about "money ethic". To me there is no insight or originality in his thoughts. I believe the worst writings about money I've ever encountered originate from philosophers, idealists, elitists and other guys who are somehow closer to higher superstition than the raw reality of street-level business world. - Brainstorming in the third and last part named "the nethic" is somewhere between the first and the second part. Personally, I don't find it very convincing.

How great hacker Himanen may be, his book is sold as one interesting product of commercial culture, which hopefully entertains and attracts the short attention-window of its target consumers. If you were an average american consumer interested in current societal issues would you buy a book from Pekka Himanen. - From who? No problem, on the cover of the book are printed the names Linus Torvalds and Manuel Castells. Torvalds has actually written a short intro to the book - that has no connection to Himanen's essay. Castells for his part has made a short summary of the main points from his three volume The Information Age (1996-1998) in the end.

I'm only 1/4 of the way through so far. I find it amusing that the author, obviously a believer in his writings, chooses to sell his book rather than provide it free of charge for all to download. This seems to go against the hacker ethic ;).

That aside, thus far it appears to be a worthy read. Reading the first three chapters has given me a slightly different perspective on my job and gave me a reason to be proud of my authority complex. Tomorrow I am going to revolt againt my bosses and tell them I'll work when I want to (If anybody reading this is looking to hire a developer with hacker ethics I will be needing a job tomorrow).

The Hacker Ethic is a late 1990s Information Age treatise. The author, a gifted and young sociologist, posits that the Protestant Ethic is gradually giving away to a new paradigm, and that the new paradigm will be much more effective and functional than the old paradigm. Seems simplistic, but much of Himanen's treatise is excellent and hard to ignore.

If I can fault the work, it would be along the lines that it can misinterpreted by slackers as a way of mindlessly rebelling against employers and western culture altogether. Too many Generation X advocates will take this like Charles Manson took the White Album. This is a solid, introductory work not to be read by nihilists.

Overall, I think Himanen is a very promising figure in the Information Age and will probably make a great long-term contribution to global society. I expect bigger and better things from him in the future.

I read this book because I loved Mr. Mani. Unfortunately Yehoshua seems to be trying to earn the "Israeli Faulkner" title a little too much by this plodding, lifeless thing. I figure that there has to be major symbolism since the characters are so awkward, but the closest I could come was that the old lady(mother figure) who captures the heart of our protagonist is a life sustaining goddess while the wife is a goddess of destruction and the child (Shiva) is both together. So when the narrator is left with just the child at the end, he's managed to integrate both sides of his soul. I like that part. The rest of the book bored me. I couldn't stand the narrator and the scenes with him and the 50 year old love interest served only to remind me of Umberto Eco's parody of Lolita entitled Granita where the young man went after nursing home patients. Eco only took 8 pages while Yehoshua takes 500 pages. Read this book only if you are a diehard fan and you are willing to accept a lot of Yehoshua's babbling. If you are only curious about Yehoshua, read Mr. Mani.

I read Open Heart after having taken a course with AB Yehoshua and after having read Mr. Mani, A Late Divorce, and The Lover, and found it the least satisfactory of these four novels. (I would give the other 3 five stars.) I found the narrator annoying and his relationship with the fifty year old woman unconvincing. I think Yehoshua is brilliant at depicting all kinds of people except middle aged women, and I don't think he really understood how a woman would react under such circumstances. However, I loved the descriptions of India, and thought the prose style in general made the book worth reading.

With this novel, Yehoshua again returns to exploring the themes of Love and Identity, this time in a more intimate setting. The impossible, almost grotesque love of a young doctor (Benjy) to the middle-aged mother of his patient is described in detailed realism, yet the story is imbued with a sense of mysticism and mystery. Identities and feelings are exchanged and mixed through blood transfusions, and Love invades one's being as if from an external source. Yehoshua captures the profound mystery permeating "regular" people and situations. The many faces of Love, as well as its imitations, limitations and glaring absences are examined without flinching. Benjy is torn between desolate loneliness and identity-devouring symbiosis; the alternative path of co-existence with autonomy (offered by the independent Michaela) seems to him somehow incompatible with Love.
The Hebrew title of this novel is "The Return from India"; passages infused with Eastern spirituality and the transmigration of souls contrast with minute, surgically-precise medical descriptions and all-too-earthly human ambitions and professional rivalries. The narrative unfolds slowly, luxuriously, allowing the reader to become completely immersed in Yehoshua's world. A wonderful, richly rewarding book.

Boring and awful. Worst chess book I have ever bought.

Bronstein gives the scores of 200 of his open games - pretty much his entire practice, win, loss, and draw, including gm draws. With each, he gives a paragraph or two of what he finds of interest - a maneuver, a combination, a tournement situation, personalities, or whatever. there's not a lot of analysis, but there are a lot of ideas to be picked up. More than anything else, the book seems to be about personal attitude. I don't play open games any more, but I haven't been able to give up my copy.

This book has the Bronstein magic. He writes in color, but many authors write in black and white. For that alone, his books are all worth it. To Bronstein, chess is ALIVE and exciting, and he conveys that in his writing. He never over-analyzes, whic is fine, because ultimately to progress in chess, it is the reader who must analyze the games. And this book has many good games to analyze, one per page.

This book has little in specifics for a photography business. It does have lots of basic common sense advice about home businesses in general. For example, he tells you to check in the yellow pages to see who your competition will be. Also, you can get some of his information for free, such as the tax regulations from the IRS.

It's a good read but one might not get much out of the whole book. With a little research on the internet, this book renders useless; besides, the advices are very dated. Try E R Lilley's book better.

If you already know a lot about management and/or business in general, don't bother. Little specific to photography is in here. I am a majager and have a degree from ASU's business college, so this wasn't all that helpful. If your background isn't like mine, or you need a refresher though, this may be an excellent title for you.