Real-time Books

I'm a long time breakfast lover. I love breakfast at 8 AM and I love breakfast at 8 PM. And they're all here in one book. Even more pleasing, most breakfasts are a snap to prepare. The Jamisons are particularly strong on Southwestern favorites, so if you like to start your day with a few jalapenos or some beans, this is definitely the book for you. The other regions of the US are not neglected and then there are the surprises, meals I'd never dream of but are quite wonderful. It's a huge book, a compendium of the American breakfast, so I'll be testing and tasting recipes for a long time to come. I look forward to the many pleasures!

A Real American Breakfast: The Best Meal of the Day, Any Time of the Day packs in a coast-to-coast feast of nearly three hundred breakfast recipes, offering up a centerfold of color photos and including historical notes, old menus, and variations on themes as well as traditional fare. The mix of innovative dishes such as Spinach Bread Pudding and Mixed Vegetable Hash and old standards such as Apple Fritters makes this a lively, fun cookbook.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is the best cookbook I have ever had. I purchased this cookbook about 2 years ago, and I have already made about 50 of the recipes. Every recipe is as good as it possibly can be. Using this cookbook, I've made the best coffee cake I've ever had, the best muffins I've ever had, the best french toast I've ever had, the best cereal I've ever had, and breakfast sandwiches and breakfast meats that I didn't even know were possible. Anyone who loves making good food and especially anyone who enjoys making breakfast at home must have this book. It's perfect for eating a quiet meal at home for two, for making a nice breakfast to share with your children before school (we use a lot of the cereal recipes and fruit recipes for weekdays), for impressing overnight guests, and it is so good it should be a staple in every B&B. I recommend this cookbook to anyone who loves to cook- and it is one of my favorite gifts to give.

This book is for the breakfast lover in you. The oatmeal pudding with vanilla sauce is a masterpiece. Everything I have made has turned out great. I made a coffee cake and no could believe how tasty it was. The flavors linger and your mouth sings. I was amazed at the amount of recipes and the variety in this one book.

...you're going to want something else once in a while.

This is a really good book. It was on Food and Wine Magazine's 25 best list a couple of years ago, and it's full of all kinds of breakfast delicacies, both familiar and unusual.

Breakfast (the American way at least) is an interesting meal, as it's appropriate any time of day -- the buzz created in September '06 by McDonalds' consideration of serving breakfast all day shows that much. The Jamisons take full advantage of that, starting out with the San Francisco classic Joe's Special (a spinach, hamburger, and egg scramble) and branching out into dishes with both wide appeal (waffles and corned beef hash) and strong ethnic and regional associations (including the much-loved grits and the much-dreaded scrapple and menudo). There are numerous variations on some themes as well -- pancakes include basic buttermilk pancakes, chuckwagon-style sourdough pancakes, big puffy Dutch baby pancakes, and even silver dollar pancakes (a long, long stack of which decorates the spine of the book). Hashes go from basic corned beef to fish, poultry, and even mushroom-based. There is even an entire section on baked goods such as biscuits, muffins, and doughnuts.

Books on breakfast are hard to find for some reason -- it's possible to get a very good idea of what a culture eats for lunch and dinner from a good ethnic cookbook, but breakfast seems to be left out in a great many of them; as a general rule, I believe that if you find a good breakfast book, you should buy it, as there aren't that many out there. Overall, this book is a good breakfast book -- a remarkable tour of the breakfast habits of Americans, with a bounty of interesting and unusual recipes. Anyone who likes to cook breakfast -- at any time of the day -- should have this book.

I read various books regarding the Theory of Constraints. Except for the chapter on prerequisite trees, this book explains how to use the theory very well to solve your daily problems. It also gives you a wealth of exercises that you can use to improve your practice of the theory.

You may have heard of "Theory of Constraints" or "TOC" as a project management method that focuses on placing buffers on GANNT charts. But that's just one application of this general analysis and decision-making method called Theory of Constraints.

If you've ever wanted to "brainstorm" or "think outside the box," or just want to plan your next big task in a more complete way, but didn't know where to start, this book is for you. It actually offers a lot more than a start: methods, a simple notation, and when to do what in great detail.

A lot of what you read may seem like "just common sense," but perhaps that's what makes it fun: a powerful, verifiable thinking tool that's also simple and makes sense.

You don't have to read the whole book at once. Try reading some, and then applying it. See how it goes.

This book puts it all together and can lead anyone down the path of logical thinking, be it solving a problem or creating a plan. Combine the teachings of this book with the other TOC principles and you've got a recipe for success. I highly reccommend this book to all my consulting clients and friends for use in both business and personal life.

Edward De Bono had the wonderful insight of bringing together many disparate and orginally isolated ideas and repackaging them with a binding theme he called lateral thinking. The world has never looked back. De Bono's insight and salesmanship have been a wonder to behold.

So too, Eli Goldratt has taken critical thinking skills from various areas, put a graphical front end on them, and repackaged them with a binding theme he calls Thinking Processes. Not as powerful as De Bono, but certainly in the same ballpark.

Lisa Scheinkopf does quite a marvellous job in providing a didactic introduction to these Thinking Processes. At the end of the day, she unfolds a systematic way of problem solving - and this is, indeed, what the thinking tools are all about.

I understand that Scheinkopf's choice and ordering of chapters was meant to reflect her belief that the individual tools can be used independently of each other. It would have been nice if she had provided a bit more detail showing how the tools complement each other; but, her book, her prerogative. In regard to matters which require the the systematic and complementary use of each and every tool in the toolset, I think Bill Dettmer's provides better insight.

The book is generally clear, with one or two minor slips into obscurity.
I think Scheinkopf falls into the same trap that most authors who present these type of tools. They occasionally have a rush of too much Oxygen to the brain and push their product beyond its elastic limits and start to hand-wave a little too much. In this regard, I find the "So What Test" which forms part of her discussion of Current Reality Trees one of those hand-waving areas. Apart from being something to do with simplifying a current reality tree by means of a review of "entities" from a systems perspective (whatever that really means), I find the actual application of the test as described quite obscure. (As an aside, Bill Dettmer also hand-waves at this point too. I think that both authors attempt to transform craft into some sort of science in a manner which needs a rethink).

Anyway, overall, I think Scheinkopf's work is very good. I think it deserves to be read in support of an understanding of the TOC Thinking Processes, but, it simply isn't enough to read as the only source of understanding. I recommend reading some of Dettmer's work too. Between the two (and Goldratt himself of course), the whole system of TOC and Thinking Processes adds a useful set of tools to problem solving.

I really hesitated to pay [$] for a book that is not directly related to my profession, somewhat short, and had an unkown beneficial value. Being casually familiar with the thinking processes from It's Not Luck, I went ahead and bought the book. I'm not disappointed. In about a month it has paid for itself several times over. It's not an easy read, but if your curious enough to be reading this, you can understand it. If your a professional with a wife and kid(s), it is a must for both work and home.

When someone sent me a copy of this book a year ago, I thought it was going to be light reading for a technologist's coffee table. Then I started to read it. This book truly runs the gamut of all the issues that customer service contact centers face today. The book provides a great introduction to contact centers, their technology and both the business and people issues that contact centers face in the 21st century.
People complain with increasing frequency about poor customer service. With great dissatisfaction about call center jobs moving overseas, and service suffering, this book examines all those issues and each chapter gives a list of helpful steps to take to overcome all the obstacles to good customer service.
This is a must read if you need to know about these issues or are working in any part of this exploding industry and need to do your job better.

The Real-Time Contact Center is easy to read, clearly based on real-world experience, and cutting-edge.

My initial intention when purchasing this book was as a reference for my Call Center Management Certification classes, but I found myself turning to it on a regular basis for practical advice on the challenges I face on a day-to-day basis in my Contact Center Operations career.

Donna Fluss has written a book that should be in the Library of every Contact Center. She offers a fun, practical, and leading-edge approach to the dynamic task of capitalizing on the strength of your human resources, operational processes, and targeted technology to achieve uncompromised Customer Service, Customer Loyalty, and Operational Efficiencies.

I consistently refer to her guidance when faced with the inevitable challenge of improving efficiency and productivity, while increasing revenue generating opportunities.

I recommend that you purchase the Real-Time Contact Center if you work at any level of a Contact Center. It will shed bright-light and clarity on the purpose of the Contact Center in the organization as a whole.

Corinne Valcourt
Director, J. Jill Contact Center Operations

This is a superb book offering an overview of how to engage with customers in real-time along with all the ins and outs of the contact center. It's a one-stop resource and I keep it on my desk as a handy reference. Every person involved in the biz needs to have it in their library - makes a great gift for your staff as well.
Debora Glennon, Enterprise Multimedia Applications Marketing

I have been either an executive or consultant in the call center industry for the last 10 years. My area of expertise is increasing sales performance. After reading various books, and periodicals, I unequivocally find this the best resource on the market. Ms. Fluss covers all the bases of how to transform your call center...or dramatically increase its sales and service performance. Her writing style is entertaining, and the checklists at the end of each chapter provide a road map for the transformation. This book should be mandatory reading for all call center executives and managers. I think 10 years from now the term call center will no longer exist, and the term real-time contact center will take its place. If you want to be on that train to the future...this is a must read.

This book clearly outlines the strategy to turn your contact center into a corporate asset. The writing is concise, the illustrations are many and useful. This book is stuffed with ROI models, strategy checklists, vendor lists, cost analysis and information you just can't find anywhere else.

Read it before you competitors do!

Guy Jones
President, Island Data Corp.

If you need to understand what is going to happen to the U.S. housing market over the next two years, then you need to read part 1 of this book. The charts and concise analysis give you an excellent overview of what happened and why during the housing boom and bust over the last five years. The conclusions covering implications for 2009 and 2010 are sound and are more pessimistic than the current concensus views.

There are drawbacks to the book to be sure: Parts 2 and 3 are not as relevant to the mortgage situation and won't be of interest to many readers.

Excellent book! Whitney Tilson is one of the few professional investors that I have heard on TV that I respect and who makes sense to me when he talks. The book is very timely and gives and excellent overall picture, supported with specific details, on the total amount of bad residential real estate loans, where we are currently in the losses on those and provides a good estimate of the future losses. Information is also provided on the total losses expected as a result of bad loans in other areas, although real estate is the largest market, such as commercial real estate, private equity, etc.
The second half is a detailed analysis of several specific investment ideas. I agree with Mr. Tilson's approach, looking for value (buying at a substantial discount to intrinsic value), although we might disagree on some of the specific investments. However, this section is very good for how thoughtful analysis is done and provoking you to provide you own thoughtful analysis.
The only drawback to the book might be that it is really a book for our current times, right now, and might not be that relevant or helpful once it is outdated and these times have past (although still valuable historically as providing a snapshot picture of these times). This is not a criticism, is something I am sure that the authors are aware of, and is intended more to describe what you are getting, than to suggest that anything different should have been done.
In conclusion: excellent book, I have recommended to many friends and recommend here to everyone to get it if you really want to have a good picture and understanding of where we currently are in the present financial crisis. In fact, as a professional investor, I have read the book twice and continue to refer to it as a resource.

Whitney Tilson & Glenn Tongue "More Mortgage Mess-6 Ways to Profit in these bad times" (John Wiley & Sons, 2009)



"Why sometimes I've believed as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast." -Alice in Wonderland



This past decade has seen a massive, national collective hallucination take place in real estate and related industries that has infected the world financial systems and which will have lasting, if not permanent effects that are now unwinding slowly and with great pain.

Tilson & Tongue dissect this situation with insight, depth, mathematical skill and many original ideas in their new book. They are not timid and dole out giant scoops of blame to myriad guilty parties: the government (who repealed or loosened many laws and regulations), banks, the Fed (who kept interest rates artificially low, allowing real estate prices to bubble ever upward), the GSEs (Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, who were allowed to speculate wildly), the ratings agencies (Moody's, S & P,), real estate agents & appraisers, and finally greedy homeowners.

Charles Mackay, in his classic 1840's Extraordinary Popular Delusions & The Madness of Crowds, a study of various scams, bubbles and manias including the South Sea bubble, the Dutch tulip mania, and the crusades, makes the point that the most dangerous phrase is always "it's different this time." Yet hope springs eternal and many folks spend their whole lives searching for the greater fool, very easily found in the USA of late.

Of the two T's, Tilson has been the more public figure, starting his first hedge fund in 1999, writing for various web sites, Kiplinger's, Forbes, and Marketwatch. Tongue has been co-manager of T-2 since 2004, having previously run DLJDirect, an online brokerage.

Split into two sections, "What Happened and Why" on mortgages and the wide variety of still worsening effects and "Profiting from the Meltdown,"which talks about stocks, bonds, and provides in-depth analysis of some major holdings at T-2 Partners, including Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo, American Express, and a few smaller, lesser known stocks.


Inspiration and a lot of the information in their book comes from Amherst Securities' Sean Dobson, who taught the T-2 principles from his massive proprietary mortgage and related securities data bases.

"The US housing market had experienced a bubble of enormous proportions, and countless mortgages were defaulting at unprecedented, catastrophic rates," T-2 explains.

Pretty much any boom time in the USA (or the world, for that matter) is at least partly driven by some sort of scam, especially when uninformed people arrive late to a party already drunk.


Alan Greenspan's Fed, instead of "removing the punch bowl," as former Fed Chairman William Mc Chesney Martin described the chairman's job as being, dumped bottle after bottle of Ever clear into the bowl, resulting in a drunk, clueless populace who kept muttering their ever hopeful mantra, "real estate always goes up, if even a little..."

Then, if that wasn't bad enough, Wall Street, got involved: packaging mortgages, many written to sub-prime and no documentation clients that would never have qualified for loans in eras with more conservative lending standards, often driven by congressional and Presidential quotas to "get more people into houses," usually with no regard for the viability of the loans.

These were sold to individuals, mutual funds, institutions, and sovereign wealth funds around the world, rubber-stamped by ratings agencies as AAA, super-safe ratings that bore no relationship to actual risk assessment and cost them their previously sterling reputations.

Regarding options ARM loans, T-2 writes, "If one were to design a loan that would blow up the maximum number of homeowners the moment home prices stopped rising, an option ARM would be it." In their perverse, self-defeating styles, the states of California and Florid had by far the most ARM loans written.



"Florida has always been susceptible to the Wild West mentality. If it's too good to be true, we're going to be involved in it." -Florida state treasurer Alex Sink in George Packer's "The Ponzi State," The New Yorker 2/9/2009

This book is so dense with information, synopsizing is daunting but are two major points:


* After a decade of using their wildly overvalued houses as ATMs, extracting about $3 trillion (about 25% of the aggregate value of residential US housing), Americans, by 2007, had more debt (10.6 trillion) than equity (8.5 trillion) in their houses for the first time ever

* The collapse of lending standards, loaning more and more money to people with ever lower down payments wildly increased the risk of home owners who are underwater on their homes, losing their jobs and or unable to sell their homes, just walking away from their debts.

* As you may recall from the tech/internet/NASDAQ debacle, when bubbles burst, prices often crash well below the trend line and far well below fair value, which indicates real estate prices still have a long ways to fall, even without factoring in the eventual rise of interest rates, further foreclosures, rising unemployment and other negative factors that will contribute to their fall.


Which banks fail may well be a factor of clumping, luck, and randomness more than skill, in that the banks that survive are in a race to outrun their foreclosure and loan losses.

Tilson & Tongue dissect their holdings in Wells Fargo in depth and point out that we are "in the fifth inning" with there are many shoes left to drop (to mix metaphors) including commercial real estate defaults, as commercial is 40% of WFC's loan book. Wells' acquired sub-prime exposure via the acquisition of Wachovia, more lay offs in areas like Michigan, California, and Florida are also big factors. Wells Fargo sounds like both a great bargain, trading at 3 or 4 times normalized earnings and the next Citibank or Bank of America, a prime bankrputcy candidate.

T-2's math is very pro and can be a bit overwhelming in this book for the non-CPA but it is clearly stated and does become clearer on a second or third more careful reading. The reader is walked, hand in hand through the often intentionally muddy fields of accounting and corporate balance sheets. As Tilson & Tongue write, non in the least hyperbolically, "Wells Fargo is currently in a race for its life, trying to earn its way out. If big (loan) losses materialize quickly but profits are weaker than we expect, WFC will be in big trouble."

REITS (real estate investment trusts) are in even worse shape than banks, yet this isn't mentioned much in T-2's book but it brings up the question regarding both banks and REITS: can vital, much needed industrys fail in aggregate? US airlines and auto makers suggest it's quite plausible and what that means for the country is pretty much open for endless discussion but I doubt it can be good.

They also offer an in-depth look at Berkshire Hathaway, which they describe as "an unusual company and possibly the most talked-about yet least understood business in the world." Tilson has long understood Buffett's giant free cash generation machine and its proprietary advantages, penning his classic "The Last Bull on Berkshire" a decade ago when he & Alice Schroeder, then an analyst, were the only people in the mainstream press to get Berkshire. He and Tongue still do, and as they advise the reader, betting against Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger has never been a good idea.

They also advise buying beaten-down, super solid blue chips such as Wal-Mart, Exxon, Mc Donalds and Altria. There's a good section on shorting (T-2 say "most people should avoid it, to which I add an "amen.)

In conclusion, they offer a fine selection of worthwhile web sites and an exhaustive reading list well worth persuing.

Book Review: More Mortgage Meltdown


In terms everyone can easily understand Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue dissect the greed and folly that spread from Wall Street to Main Street and caused the mortgage mess. This book serves as an excellent reminder that the ugly side to human nature has far reaching and lasting consequences.

In explaining what happened and why, Tilson and Tongue bring a working knowledge of psychology, a firm understanding investing, and research that leaves few stones unturned. They were not the first people to determine what a crisis we were in but, to their credit, they were smart enough to listen to others and take appropriate action.

The presentation of material is clear, logical, and well-researched. The reader gets the feeling that the authors not only understand what they are saying but they understand it enough to make it seem simple. However, those looking for a silver bullet as to what caused the meltdown will end up disappointed. There were many contributing factors that could have caused many possible outcomes.

What struck me the most while reading this book is the blatant self denial from everyone who participated. At every stage in the process people from home buyers to bankers seemed to realize what they were doing was either wrong, stupid, or a combination of the two. In short, greed tainted thinking.

As much as I liked the book, there are some faults. First, it's not really one book but rather three separate books (the mortgage mess, an introduction to value investing, and the presentation of 6 investment ideas). I didn't read the book for an intro to value investing so was disappointed that only half the book was on the mortgage mess. One other small point, I hate the title. Reading this book at the local coffee shop made me feel like I was reading a "get rich quick book."

If you're looking for a great introduction to what happened in the US mortgage market this book is a must read.

The first half was an excellent analysis of the mess we are in and how it will only get worse. Second 1/2 advice was fair, but not why to buy the book. Should have had more evaluation of what happens as a consequence of this problem, rather than his case studies. Worth the first 1/2 but a bit disappointing after that. Read it, then HS Dent's "The Great Depression Ahead" and you will have a real game plan.

With this book, Marquardt has created the most exciting and practical model for executive development I have ever seen. Warren Bennis recently asked, poignantly, "Is there a future for leadership?" Marquardt is leading all management educators into the future of leadership. As director of an executive Master's program at American University, I am astonished at how powerful Marquardt's model is for developing "leaderly learners," in the magical phrase coined by Peter Vaill. Action learning is perfect for leaders who want to learn and learners who want to lead. Marquardt's chapter on the role of "action learning coach" is, by itself, worth a shelf of books of leadership. My executive participants are raving about how action learning has transformed their individual mindsets, allowing them to surface take-for-granted assumptions, as well as helped them begin to transform the culture or collective mindsets of their organizations.

Optimizing The Power Of Action Learning: Solving Problems And Building Leaders In Real Time by educator and consultant Michael J. Marquardt (Professor of HRD and Program Director of Overseas Programs, The George Washington University), is a "user friendly" guidebook to an effective learning technique for facing increasingly intimidating and complex organizational challenges, especially with regard to global business concerns. Impressing the power of "action learning" to respond to the need to create new products, improve service quality, and transform organizational cultures, Optimizing The Power Of Action Learning is a confidently recommended success guide complete with a well-thought-out process for introducing and sustaining action learning among groups to the reader's particular and maximum advantage.

Michael J. Marquardt has developed a problem-solving tool. His process, which can be adapted by organizations of any size not only provides solutions but also builds leaders and teams.

Marquardt, a professor of HRD and Program Direction of Overseas Programs at The George Washington University, is an expert in action learning. His process has six components.

1. A problem - It must be significant and urgent.
2. A group - The ideal group has between 4 and 8 diverse members.
3. Questions - Initially, team members are restricted to questions. This reflective inquiry period develops a thorough understanding of the problem.
4. Action - The group is authorized to implement their solution.
5. Learning - A commitment to the process is as important as the solution.
6. A coach - Someone is needed to keep the group focused.

A key step is "action." Learning is meaningful only if some type of action is taken. Action generally involves four steps:

1. Understand and Redefine the Problem. This is often the most important step.
2. Articulate a Goal.
3. Develop and Test Strategies.
4. Take Action and Reflect on the Results.

Marquardt includes a 12 step plan to introduce action learning to your organization. Properly implemented, it will accomplish three goals for your organization:

1. It will provide solutions to problems.
2. Develop leaders.
3. Build a problem-solving culture.

People with an intense interest in knowing all the details of action learning will find the answer to their prayers in this book. Author Michael J. Marquardt writes with the zeal of a revival tent preacher, filled with the sincere belief that action learning can help solve any problem, meet any challenge or achieve any aspiration. As he clearly explains, action learning is intended to build both knowledge and leadership. He sets out the steps your organization should pursue to implement action learning, and to use it well. He includes questions, checklists and extensive examples. All he omits are any caveats or cautions about this approach. He's a booster and an expert, just so you know where he's coming from. We recommend his manual to human resource professionals.

It is desirable but not imperative to have read Michael Marquardt's earlier work, Action Learning in Action, before reading this one. He defines action learning as "both a process and a powerful program that involves a small group of people solving real problems while at the same time focusing on what they are learning and how their learning can benefit each group member and the organization as a whole." The benefits of action learning include shared learning through all levels and areas of an organization, greater self-awareness and self-confidence for all involved because of their new insights and feedback interaction, improvement of their ability to ask better questions and to be more reflective, and improved communication and collaboration enterprise-wide.

How do task forces and quality circles differ from action learning groups? First, [they] tend to focus on the specific problem of task to be addressed rather than on identifying the organization wide, environmental, systemic elements in which the problem resides, and which also be affected if lasting change is to take place...Second, [task forces and quality circles] generally do not have the power or the expectation of taking action...Third [they] are charged with addressing a problem or improving a product or procedure; any learning that occurs is incidental." Marquardt suggests that action learning programs are built around six interactive components: a problem, the group, the questioning and reflection process, the commitment to taking action, the commitment to learning, and the facilitator. It is important to add, a "commitment to action" includes both identifying a given problem's causes and correcting it, and, then ensuring that the problem does occur again.

In this volume, Marquardt develops in much greater depth many of the core concepts introduced in his earlier book, Action Learning in Action, but focuses much greater attention on how to solve problems and build leaders in real time with next-generation tools and techniques to make action learning successful each and every time, in any organization. Those who have not read his earlier book will appreciate his review of the six critical components: the problem; group diversity (e.g. cross-functional teams); action strategies; individual, team, and organizational learning; the all-important involvement of a well-trained action learning coach; and step-by-step procedures for introducing, implementing, and sustaining action learning. In turn, many of those who have read the earlier book will also appreciate his review of the six critical components, both as a reminder and as a framework within which Marquardt refines his core concepts as well as introducing entirely new material such as the 20 best-practice examples of action learning in action. He also inserts a number of reader-friendly devices such as eight Tables and dozens of checklists which summarize key points in each of the eight chapters. These devices facilitate and accelerate review later, whenever needed to clarify the nature and extent of a reader's own specific problem or opportunity.

Of greatest interest to me is what Marquardt has to say about how to prepare for and then introduce, implement, and then sustain an effective action learning program. He suggests and then carefully explains each of twelve steps (which are listed in Table 7 on page 162) which comprise a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective process which - with appropriate modifications, of course - can guide and inform initiatives undertaken by almost any organization, whatever its size or nature may be. Marquardt's extensive real-world experience with all manner of organizations probably explains why his approach is so pragmatic. He well realizes the barriers to be overcome, hence the importance of the various checklists he provides such as those for top management support, what should be addressed during a preparations assessment workshop, the selection of action learning projects, and measuring the impact of action learning initiatives in the given organization.

Those who share my high regard for this brilliant book are urged to check out Marquardt's subsequent work, Leading with Questions, in which he explains in even greater depth how leaders find the right solutions by knowing which questions to ask. He insists, and I wholly agree, that effective leadership of action learning programs must be provided at all levels and in all areas of operation but that such programs cannot succeed without the full support and sustained commitment of senior-management.

If you are still debating, which of the two 1998 Hollywood flicks, "Deep Impact" or "Armageddon", is the better comet catastrophe movie, you will get delivered from this nagging question by reading this 1995 book: none of the above. I am amazed that Hollywood DIDN'T exploit the in reality much more gloomy scenarios of a comet impact's chain reactions leading to the effacement of the human habitat by multiple means.

The book starts out with the realization process of modern human society that comets are one of the biggest threats. Actually, the author thinks that comet awareness hasn't sharpened sufficiently yet and sets out to change that, successfully so for anyone who reads this book. From the discovery of solar system planetory impacts to the ongoing search for the remains of Earth' comet craters and the quest of mapping space in search for the villains of iron and ice, the author lets us know the high probability of global killers. In the process thwarting the current easy-going negligence, caused by what he terms 6-10,000 years of freak climate stability on Earth (equaling relatively comet-free times), responsible for the possibility of the emergence of human civilization and the population boom. Concluding with 10 random computer probability simulation scenarios of how the 20th century could have looked like in parallel universes. In between filling the book with the ugly comet consequences BEYOND cratering, shock wave, mega tsunami and dust-induced perennial nightly winter, I had never heard of before.

Some of my questions from reading other books got solved, most of all the so-called mystery of the Libyan desert glass (in Egypt), which is vitrified sand over a large circular area. The yellowpress book Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients mused about ancient nuclear warfare (I am not kidding), since this isn't a crater (yet mentioning nuclear cratering in another chapter). Whereas already half a decade before, this book had explained the effects of both nuclear and cometory explosions on the ground or in the air, causing either cratering or intense burning. (It is called a meteor, if it doesn't survive Earth' atmosphere and a meteorite, if it reaches the ground.)

The book may be dusted already, after all human knowledge currently doubles every five years. It becomes evident that it was written before September 11th, 2001 and the 2004 Christmas tsunami. Yet both deep impacts on the human psyche are explained in principle in this book: Unusual events eclipsing more deadly continuities. The average earth quake saving more lives by interrupting traffic (accidents) than killing others. More US-Americans killed in post-invasion Iraq than on September 11th. A neo-colonial induced economic tsunami sweeping Africa several times a year. So even on the level of reasoning about human perceptions, this book is worth the read and even some of the obviously dusted parts are translateable to an update of mind.

Actually, there has been an 1997 paperback update of three pages: More historic evidence found including a 580 A.D. match of one of the fictitious simulations about France's Orleans. The most scary part, I may say. Also the 1996 1st time confirmation of one of the theories extrapolated in the first edition of the book a year earlier: Earth "capturing" cometary debris, i.e. forcing it into temporary orbit.

In 1999, a more unorthodox book was first published - referencing this book - suggesting that human civilization had already lived through at least two such global killers - which merged into the flood stories. It suggests, megalithic structures on the Irish/British Isles were used to train people from far away places how to detect future comets and how to rebuild civilization after the strike - with Biblical Enoch and Noah being the ones in the position to apply that training. The book avers much higher tsunamis than "Rain of Iron and Ice", but it is fascinating reading: Uriel's Machine: Uncovering the Secrets of Stonehenge, Noah's Flood and the Dawn of Civilization. In Voyages of the Pyramid Builders: The True Origins of the Pyramids from Lost Egypt to Ancient America a similar historic scenario is described for Sundaland (once dry land of today's south-east Asian island nations world of Indonesia etc.).

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The need for radioastronomy to detect near Earth objects on the day-side is documented in this book. Amateur astronomers have a real opportunity to potentially save all life on Earth. Despite the efforts expended (mostly since 1994, after the impact of the fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter) the estimate is that 90 per cent of nearby asteroids are unknown. As David Morrison has warned, nothing can be told about the unknown majority, and the odds are that there will be no warning.

At least four large impacts occurred during the 20th century, the best known being the Tunguska object in 1908. I was a bit startled to learn of the small 1919 impact on Lake Michigan (p 159) having never heard anything about this from elderly folklore-prone relatives.

Perhaps most useful is Lewis' discussion of the various myths about our safety from such impacts.

See also "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" by James Lawrence Powell.

This book by John Lewis is very intriguing read. Roughly 220 pages with fifteen chapters, and easy to read. He explored the threats from space as well discussed the asteroid impacts from the past in our solar system, including that of Mars, Moon, Mercury, and even the impacts on asteroids themselves.

Out of all informative and fascinating chapters in this book, I felt the fourteenth chapter is most chilling to read because the author brings the reader to experience each scenario of impacts from A to J. Each is frightening as one begin to see, as the computer simulations show, what it would be like to be collided with the iron asteroid.

Overall, I felt this book is directed towards bringing the public awareness of the threats from space as it is likely. Not everyone ever believes that Earth will get hit by comets or asteroids, and that we are safe from such threats. This book can help one to understand the grace issue of such threats, and why we would need to look up and be aware of such cosmic events will happen, and it is just the matter of when. This book will surely be added to that awareness.

In my opinion, I really recommend this book.

This book is a natural five-star. It clearly and eloquently discusses the threat from asteroids and comets. The scenario of a SMALL asteroid falling in the Philippine Sea should be eye-opening to even the most jaded. Also especially worth reading are the chapters on Mercury and on computer created scenarios of falls over a century's time. The book maintains a steady pace throughout, and is a must for anyone interested in meteoritics.

This fine book is designed primarily with one goal in mind. Aimed at a popular audience, it is written to counteract the unfortunately widespread myth that no one has ever been killed, or will ever be killed, by a falling asteroid or meteor. John Lewis reworks this statement, reminding us that the way it should be phrased is as follows: "no one as ever been killed or hurt by a meteor or asteroid in the presence of a Western, 20th/21st century journalist or meteoriticist."

This book demonstrates, through statistics and anecdotes, that it is more than just a question of occasional asteroids like the one that killed the dinosaurs, or like the ones in the asteroid movies from the summer of 1999. There is an extremely wide range of asteroids, meteors, and other random space-rocks, of all different shapes, sizes, and compositions. The ones large enough to do fairly serious damage land all over the planet, and substantially more often than many of us tend to believe.

Chapter 14 alone is worth the price of the book. In it, Dr. Lewis shows us computer simulations of several likely asteroid strikes. Let me clarify that -- he presents the results of computer simulations of 10 randomly computer-generated "centuries" on Earth, and what the statistical likelihood of pretty awful asteroid collisions are in each century. Many of the simulations are pretty terrifying. The one that opens the chapter, taking place in the Phillipines, is one of the most horrifying things you'll ever read.

Another valuable part of the book is the table in chapter 13, which lists dozens of damaging asteroid or meteor strikes throughout recorded history, all over the world. Stories like this crop up throughout the book, they aren't just in chapter 13.

The intent of this book is to raise public awareness. It succeeds dramatically. Please buy a copy, and get copies for some of your friends. Two thumbs up.

I would have to second the other reviews of this truly exceptional text, I will rather merely add one more observation:

Apparently now in 2009 the book is out of print, it is dated by standards of the fast moving software industry and Unix development, surely the hardware is dramatically faster now, and yet while other books of that age cannot be sold for even symbolic $0.01, here the price soars to astonishing heights. Well deserved, get yourself a copy, the content is timeless and unique. We have yet to wait for an updated version of this or similar book with some more current description of real time, timers and sophisticated IO with Posix. Or is there? Sometimes some of the industry common API's endure generations unchanged, because their very stability is the benefit, and their generality does not enforce extensions.

POSIX is only one operating system standard in IEEE/IEC.
But now ISO have another oerating sysm standard, OSEK OS.
OSEK OS is more slight, simple and real time oriented.
Why Posix is not so portable and not so Open.
NIST made a POSIX Test Suite based on old POSIX standard.
But where is POSIX Test Suite based on new POSIX standard.
This book was based on old POSIX.
So, you can understand this with NIST posix test suite.

This is the best book on the subject. One can tell that the author is an expert and knows very well what he is talking about.
Unlike one reviwer mentioned below - I dont think he has read any part of the book - this is not an "reasonable introduction" at all. This is an in depth handling of the topic.

If you know C and know UNIX, this book is for you. Simply put, he knows what he's writing about and he presents the material in a logical, methodical manner.
This book was written just before the POSIX4a standard was completed, so no PThreads are covered.
As long as you're not expecting PThreads coverage, you won't be disappointed. Most of the topics you need to know about mutli-threaded programming (besides PThreads) are here.

The book consists of 2 parts. The 1st part is a detailed guide to the real-time POSIX programming. The 2nd part presents a reference to all POSIX real-time functions. The book also has an appendix with various sample and exercise code.

All explanations in the first part are very clear and complete. Writing style resembles the best programming books (like those from K&R or R.Stevens). At the same time everything is given in a distilled manner without unnecessary water, so that you might handle the stuff surprisingly fast.

The second part is less valuable since all this material can be found in UNIX man. But if to see it as just a free bonus for the 1st part it is not bad at all. In any case having printed manuals is quite useful.

Sample code in the appendix is also interesting to look at.

Actually I didn't notice any considerable drawbacks in the book and recommend it to everyone interested in the subject.

The prerequisites are minimal. You should know C and be familiar with the basic UNIX/POSIX API (like working with files, etc.). The next reading is obvious - some book on POSIX threads (I'd recommend one by Mr. Butenhof).

If you are thinking about buying a condo, make certain you read Kay's book before you sign the contract! Don't make the mistake we made and feel that reviewing the Condo Association's Declarations before finalizing the sale is sufficient. The average person is completely oblivious about what they need to look for. My husband and I bought a condo 9 years ago and our life has been full of surprises, some good and some not so great.

Kay's book has been a valuable resource to me since I became involved in our Condo Association's board. I only wish it had been published prior to our move!

There's a lot more to living in a condo then meets the eye and you owe it to yourself to make an educated decision. I guarantee that this book will provide you with all the questions you need to have answered.

A member of my family has owned two different condos and both experiences have been a nightmare. In one case, the condo association fees were stolen by the association manager and a long legal battle took place. Because of his experience, I have always viewed condo ownership as risky and therefore not one of my downsizing options. The book, "Condo Buying and Ownership" made me realize a condo could be a positive experience. Of course, it can. A lot of people are happy condo dwellers! Kay Senay's expertise clearly outlines what you need to know; the questions to ask and what red flags to look for. It would be silly to make this type of investment without first learning the many details involved in condo ownership. "Buyer beware" will not be necessary after reading this book. Oh, or buy it for someone you love who may be thinking about going condo. They'll thank you for it.

This book showed me what condo living is all about. I had no idea about everything that a buyer should consider or that an owner needs to know. All the information is in one place to learn what a community association really is. The book is clear, concise, and easy to read. Kay Senay's FAQs and Buyer's Checklists are worth the price all by themselves. What a great book!

I don't own a condo but I've thought about renting one. In the past I've been kind of scared about all the legalize, association by-laws, etc. Kay's book makes it easy to understand how condo associations work and the pros and cons of living in one. Having this book I feel armed for bear - I can confidently consider renting a condo knowing what to ask and how to deal with conflicts should they arise, like what I should ask about pets, parking and home improvements and how to protect my rights. Great stories!

Before reading Kay Senay's Condo Buying & Ownership Made Simple, I was completely in the dark. Now I feel I have all the information I need to make a wise home purchase for my lifestyle. I highly recommend this book to any and all who are curious about what home choice would best suit them. Why shop without even knowing the right questions to ask? With this book, you will be well armed.

lots of information, good for starter!! cool book!

I am a licensed realtor in a major city with 20 years of experience. In that time I have made a small hobby of reading old as well as new books on the subject of Real Estate. I don't know how this one eluded me for so long, but our paths finally crossed. This is easily the most concise and informative tome on the subject of acquiring wealth through investing in Real Eastate that I have ever read. Unlike the myriad TV hucksters who would have you believe that having No Money Down and shoddy credit is almost an advantage, Mr. Nickerson takes a reality-based approach to his subject. Starting with the want ads in his newspaper, he guides you through the entire process of purchasing an investment property. The chapters on financing are absolutely perfect. The edition I have was published in 1969, yet the information is as valid as it was when written. Certainly prices have changed, ($10,000 homes!)but that aside, this book will make you a fortune. This is one of those books that you start again as soon as you finish it. Give it a shot.

I ran across this book in the early sixties, when one million was in the title, not five million. I used this book to make several million dollars for myself, and taught two friends to use the book, and they also made substantial money. It isn't magic: it simply shows you how real estate wealth is made, and shows you step by step how to do it for yourself. A young friend has just asked me to show him how to do it , and I went to Amazon to see if the book was still available, so that I could steer him to it. That's why I'm here. I am now, at age 62, a real estate developer, and the same rules still apply. The book is simple, basic, and absolutely true. By a strange cooincidence, I knew the appraiser hired by Simon & Shuster to verify that Nickerson had made five million. The appraiser told me that he believed Nickerson had understated his wealth!

This book is out of print, and many today have never heard of it. You'll probably have to order it used, and upon first impression, it appears to be an outdated book. Well, it is outdated. The dollar amounts have changed, and the author was aware this would happen. However, the dollar amounts are the only things that have changed - the lessons in this book are timeless.

Many a books have I read on real estate, each containing something I could learn. I make a habit of highlighting and creating summaries of key points in each book, but, in this book, I am having great difficulty doing so, because it seems almost everything said is straight to the point - I want to highlight everything! I have yet to read another book as practical as this one, one that walks you through so thoroughly:

- Saving money for a down payment for years
- What to look for in your first property
- The complete buying and financing process of your first property
- How to manage your tenants, collect rent, etc.
- How to make cost-effective improvements to assure yourself a profit
- How to sell your first property
- What to look for in your second property and how to buy it

and works all the way up to

- What to look for in buying big apartment complexes
- What to look for when interviewing property managers
- How to hire a property manager
- How to supervise your property manager

and ending with a large income that your properties generate for you, thus, enabling you to retire wealthy. All this is in a 20 year time-frame.

There is no fluff, this book is straight to the point.

Aditionally, his methods do not involve any speculation. Your property does not need to appreciate for you to make money. If it does, it is a nice bonus. This book is the Security Analysis (Graham and Dodd) for Real Estate.

Study, study, study this material. Highlight, make charts and diagrams, flashcards, summaries, whatever you have to do. Make certain you master this material. This really is the Bible of Real Estate.

If you are starting out in residential real estate investment, this book is a must read. Nickerson presents a conservative, realistic scenario for starting small and steadliy building wealth. This is not a get-rich-quick book or one that relies on gimmicks or nothing-down strategies. It shows you stepwise how to build a solid financial foundation in real estate, and how to leverage current assets into more valuable ones. Nickerson's strategy relies on hard work and persistence, not luck, deceit, or the greater-fool theory. There's no need for an updated version of this book; it's principals and approaches to developing wealth are as timeless as compounded interest.

I first read Real Time because it was required as part of my Young Adult Literature class in college. However, I quickly realized that this book was more than just one more required reading book that I would just read and then forget. Real Time is especially effective in conveying the personal effect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through its first person perspective. It shows the perspectives of young people caught up in a bus bombing as well as that of the adults who are left helpless in the bombing's aftermath. The author, Pnina Moed Kass, takes her audience into the heads of everyone involved in the conflict including the young victims, the young suicide bombers, and the loved ones of those who are caught up in the bomb explosion. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

REAL TIME is set in contemporary Israel, telling a story in real time, in which the lives of so many people come together, minute by minute. The narration switches back and forth between several different characters, telling one story but also many stories.

These characters include Thomas, a German boy who has come to Israel looking for answers about his family. Baruch, a Holocaust survivor who now works on a kibbutz. Vera, another kibbutz worker who is finding her Jewish roots and escaping her tragic past in Odessa. Sameh, a Palestinian working illegally at a diner. Saheh's friend Omar, a reporter, and many, many others. All of these people are different, looking for different things, but there is a moment when all of their lives come together, and it is a tragedy.

So much sadness, so much despair, is evident. Can there be healing and hope for those who survive this tragedy? Only time will tell.

This novel is a breathtaking story, but it's more than that. For one thing, it's a behind-the-scenes look at what is usually seen only on television. And yet it's more than behind-the-scenes; it's the secrets, thoughts, hopes, and dreams of every person involved. The way this story is told, in (as the title suggests) real time, switching back and forth between several narrators, is a part of what makes it amazing. If just one character told the story, so many aspects of it would not be seen. Pnina Kass Moed is a brilliant writer, and the story she tells in REAL TIME is equally brilliant.

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

This book is the 2004 winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers category. The award is given each year for the best in Jewish children's literature.

Real Time follows a number of characters hour by hour to the moment when their lives intersect at a bus bombing in Israel, and through the aftermath of the event. We hear the voices of kibbutzniks, an earnest German youth, and even the Palestinian boy who has been persuaded to
carry the bomb. Some characters are followed through the entire book, while others make only brief appearances. The format takes some time to adjust to, but once you become immersed in the story, it is extremely readable.

The book is sophisticated in its construction, in its characterization, and in its realism. Intricate timing allows us to see simultaneous events and to understand how they are likely to become connected. Every character is realistically portrayed as a mixture of good and bad, guilt and hope, victim and oppressor, each dealing with their own unbearable situation. Each person speaks for him or herself, without interpretation by a narrator, effectively and economically revealing the relevant thoughts and emotions. While the events of the story are the stuff of today's headlines, the book's format shows how political situations are really composed of many, many overlapping personal situations. The whole concept of the book is summed up by the character Baruch, when he says "I am part of the story, and Dan, and Lidia, and also the Palestinian boy, the suicide bomber. Like tangled string when you pull it, it gets tighter."

Although the reader of Real Time begins this journey cognizant of the impending and catastrophic explosion that connects the lives of its diverse characters, there is nothing predictable about this book. It is a powerful and gripping story, and hooks the reader from the start. Each character is depicted with complexity, from the guilt-ridden adolescent grandson of a German soldier, compelled to discover the truth about his grandfather's past, to the Holocaust survivor trying to create order and beauty on an Israeli kibbutz. These are but two of the lives that are fatefully woven together, and the reader is quickly drawn into their worlds, both external and political, and internal and private. Ms. Kass artfully renders palpable the wide range of often contradictory--and therefore real--emotions that haunt each of the characters, and succeeds in the extremely difficult task of translating the wordless horror of trauma into language. There are no happy endings in this book, at least not in the familiar sense; however, amidst the interminable suffering, Ms. Kass' depiction of deep and enduring love offers relief, and serves to sustain us and give us hope.

I was apprehensive about reading this book because I wasn't sure whether it would be from a balanced perspective or whether it would take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Having read it, I wouldn't classify it in either category; I'd just have to say that it's realistic. The book revolves around a homicide bombing of a bus in Israel. It is told through the perspectives of various characters, including a German teenager who's come to Israel to find out about his grandfather who may have been a Nazi, an Israeli soldier, an Israeli immigrant, the 16 year old Palestinian boy recruited as a "Shaheed," the Israeli who imploys this boy illegally, a Palestinian doctor treating the bomb victims in an Israeli hospital, and others.

The author presents a startlingly realistic portrait of what living and being in Israel is like for all of these people. She communicates the emotions and tensions that come with living under such tense circumstances and brings readers into this challenging world, allowing them to see what it's like for themselves.

I highly recommend this book and challenge audiences to try to step out of their secure worlds for a few hours and into the lives of the people in this book. I think it will be an enlightening experience.