Strategy

Omikron is a very fun game, but sometimes it gets pretty tricky. Some of the navigation through rooftop labyrinths just aren't something you're going to get right away, and there are other things like secret characters, or directions on how to obtain the goals. One thing is when you're trying to blow up a bridge, there's this big section you have to run through and switch buttons on to create a distraction while shooting and running to a specific door that will take you to rafts that will take you to the bridge. That's pretty crazy. The book tells you what to do. It has great graphics, easy to understand step-by-step directions, and helpful hints on what you could do to make it easier before you go into these parts of the game. It was very useful to me and I highly recommend it to anyone who has the game.

Omikron: The Nomad Soul is much, much more than a game. It is an entire world. When you start it, you truly feel that you are leaving this world and entering another. All the cliches like groundbreaking, innovative, and evocative hold true with Omikron but they do not do it justice.

Omikron: The Nomad Soul is so vast, so deep, and so multi-threaded that the Prima Official Strategy Guide is an absolute must have. No matter what your level of familiarity with Omikron is, you really do need this guide. There are many places that you've never visited in Omikron, many characters you've never met, and many sub-plots you've never followed. And they are all here in the Prima guide. The incredible level of detail, the descriptions of the numerous elements encountered in the game, and the why and how of doing what you do while in Omikron are all here.

Page after page of full color screen shots, maps, descriptions, character studies, hints and tips, and much more are to be found in the guide. It is beautifully done with 175 full color glossy pages packed with information about Omikron that the serious devotee has to have to get the most out of the world/game.

Omikron: The Nomad Soul is sure to become a classic in interactive entertainment, and the Prima Official Strategy Guide is a great accessory to the world/game, and is also quite beautiful in it's own right.

Buy this book, you will not be disappointed.

The game is similar to Resident Evil:CV, and if you are like me, they you probably have trouble solving puzzles. In the game, there are many objectives that are completed by being different people, and you may have trouble figuring out how to solve the puzzles and who you have to be to solve them. Although strategy guides defeat the purpose of these types of games, it is also no fun if you get stuck and cannot find your way around the game. I recommend this book if you get stuck easily. Prima's Strategy Guides are very thorough, and with this book you won't miss any secrets.

This is the best book I have ever read on digestive disorders. It covers every situation imaginable. I consider this a "must read" for anyone with inflammatory bowel disease or bowel disorders associated with autism. It also covers Irritable Bowel, parasites, and other difficult to treat situations. This is a well-written, intelligent, insightful book. I highly recommend it as my new favorite.

This has to be one of the most extensive and enlightening books on digestive health available. It covers all things digestive and is authored by a wide variety of healthcare professionals who represent a healthy balance of traditional and alternative thinking. It is the most informative (and enjoyable) book on digestive health I've purchased - and I've got quite a few.

It even provides contact information for most of the authors, should you decide to make personal contact or seek treatment. Definitely a worthwhile purchase!

Of all of the book I have read to try to understand food sensitivities (which is about 15 by now) this one is the best. I have more faith in this one because it is written by doctors. But I could understand most of it. It also lists several doctors who deal with these issues. That was worth the 12 bucks.

"Stephen Glazier's book ... is a field manual for the intellectual property strategist to start thinking and acting ... Glazier's book is one of the few sources which makes the effort to approach the patent field as a matter of strategy rather than as a matter of ... how the authorities line up on each particular legal issue ... Glazier's book lets the reader understand in a brief and manageable way how things work in the patent field ... The writer wishes Glazier would convert his book into a multi-volume loose leaf series for which there is surely strong need and probably no better potential author or editor." -- review from Intellectual Property Rights News, vol. 2, no. 3.

This is an excellent book. Good for both managers and patent lawyers

The author makes available complimentary update articles regarding current developments in internet service patents, financial service patents, patent strategies, and other topics related to the book. See email contact indicated above. The author is a patent and technology transactions attorney in Washington DC.

This book provides an excellent framework for thinking through the process of changing and enahancing total rewards. It takes a broader perspective on rewards and compensation and hits the key components of a successful reward strategy right on the head! I would recommend this book to HR professionals and senior leaders interested in driving real and effective change in the way your organization rewards its associates. Well done!

In today's increasingly competitive employment market, compensation is a powerful part of the package used to attract and hold top talent. Although recent research has confirmed that money is not as dominant a factor as it has been in the past, there is no denying that the Almighty Dollar still plays a central role.

If compensation is not designed properly, an organization could be dangerously vulnerable to attack from the raiding recruiters who do know how to do it right. Thus, pay plans become a vital defense as well as a powerful attracting offensive tool. The problem is that many employers, including human resource professionals, don't have a sufficient understanding of how-and why-to pay people appropriately.

Pay People Right serves as a fine textbook for those who want to gain a deeper understanding of the right ways to reward employees financially for their contributions. As the authors observe in their preface, "Much of the popular literature on management and organizational change avoids issues of pay, perhaps because it's harder to address than many gentler and less powerful change tools the literature proposes. Changing pay requires patience and constant attention." They contend that compensation design-pay and other rewards-can influence worker performance to the extent that it can change a company's achievement and destiny. Zingheim and Schuster suggest that compensation is even more of a strategic tool than it has been in the past, particularly in these times of mergers and acquisitions, consolidations, and globalization

Organization

The book is well-organized for a read-through as well as for reference at a later date. The first chapter addresses Total Rewards and the Six Reward Principles. The principles begin with Create a Positive and Natural Reward Experience. The key is communication and education. The next principle is to align rewards with business goals to create a win-win partnership. People who work for the company add value, which should be rewarded.

We should ensure that everyone is a knowledgeable stakeholder in the overall success of the company. That's the third principle: Extend people's line of sight. The fourth principle is Integrate Rewards: move beyond total pay to include total rewards. Fifth, reward individual ongoing value with base pay. Evaluate competency, performance, and the employee's value in the marketplace. I like the sixth principle: reward results with variable pay-flexiblity, agility, responsiveness.

The authors emphasize the four components of total rewards: individual growth, compelling future, total pay, and positive workplace. It's not just the money. This comprehensive approach leads to a broader strategy.

The second chapter makes the business case for changing rewards, leading to chapter on integrating total pay. The chapter on measuring and managing performance completes the first section of the book, focusing on compensation being a vital part of performance management.

The second part of the book addresses a wide range of pay tools including base pay, short-term and long-term variable pay, and recognition and celebration. The discussion on infrastructure helps the reader understand the foundation of how compensation is designed.

Part III of Pay People Right addresses how rewards are used in several different situations. Readers learn how to reward teams, scarce talent, sales professionals, and executives. In this section the authors address how rewards are used in merger and acquisition situations and in the complicated world of globalization. Chapter 15 on Global Rewards is particularly valuable for employers concerned with compensating people from different countries doing different kinds of work under different conditions. The exploration of global talent as a specific focus was enlightening . . . and, importantly, current.

The book is practical in its approach. Theory is translated effectively into practice so the textbook becomes a useful handbook, as well. The index works-I checked a number of issues and questions of interest-to help the reader find specifics to answer questions and get the job done.

Everyone has an opinion on pay, but no one brings the depth of experience and level of insight to this subject the way these two authors do. Surveying the entire complex issue of how to pay people in a way that is fair and effective for the both the firm and the individual, Schuster and Zingheim have provided a practical road map that is easy for anyone to follow who really wants to "pay people right". If every manager in every company would read, digest, and act upon their advice much of the disfunction that plagues the workplace would be eliminated. A great book, and a great service to everyone.

This book changed how I approach product design. It focuses on designs that will succeed in the market place. It's not a book specifically on designing for a market, but how a set of systems built on a common platform will allow you to compete in multiple markets at the same time. Meyer and Lehnerd combine marketing, manufacturing, design and strategy. It's loaded with great examples from companies like Black and Decker and EMC. Also impressive is that the authors show how apply platform principles in software and service markets as well as traditional manufacturing

This terrific book explains how to plan and execute a product platform which leads to a series of continuously improved products. We have used the system at our company to plan and evolve both software products and services. We have been able to spin out many different services that seem very different, but were really variations on the basic platform we had previously built. We can provide tailored solutions for clients with less than 10% of the effort that went into the initial platform development.

As the co-author of this book,using this text in teaching at 3 universities, Northeastern, Boston Univ. and U. Of Penn. in their graduate programs, I have come to realize the power of this book's teachings, its rules and tools for robust product platforms and derivative products, goods and services as well as software platforms.

We are now in the 4th edition and have published it in Spanish with a Barcelona publisher.

Companies that Marc Meyer and I consult with have found it extremely informative and useful.

Our follow up book will be an extension of this book, filled with rich examples of applications to goods, services, software and processes.

Included will be workshop materials for easy application to the users' unique products and business services.

Keep looking.......

Al Lehnerd

I coach football at the high school level and got a lot out of this book. Most of the articles are pulled from AFCA Summer Manuals and Convention notes through the years. I read an article or two a day last spring and it really got me in a creative football mode. Some of the articles are dated but football is so cyclical that it's a big benefit to be contrary. Some of the old articles by Paterno, Devaney, and Fry are the msot helpful. The articles are brief so look at this as a huge tray of appetizers to get you thinking about what you really want to study in depth. Highly recommended.

AFCA and Human Kinetics have produced a gem of a book which will be of most help to intermediate coaches -- that is, those who have a few years' experience under their belts, and are looking for new ideas in offensive systems, or for new plays to run from within their favorite offensive system.

While the age of some of the articles may seem troubling, it can in fact be a real advantage. Football offenses are so subject to trends and cycles that anything which is not current can be successful because it comes as a surprise. A defensive analogy would be the 5-2 defense -- "America's defense" throughout the 70's and much of the 80's, but almost unknown in some regions today, and thus a valuable surprise weapon.

The same holds true on offense, and the riches this book displays are a real treasure trove -- the triple option (from the wishbone, I formation and split-back veer); the Wing-T; and various pass-oriented spread and one-back systems are all covered by some of the most prominent names in coaching from the last three decades.

This isn't the best place to start for beginning coaches, nor the modern state of the art for cutting-edge types, but for the rest of us it is an excellent place to begin the next stage of our never-ending quest for football knowledge.

I've read quite a few books on the game of football. Not being a coach, I don't think most people would want to pick this up, but for those who love the game itself will find this an indispensible reference. The book is composed of short articles by college coaches which deal with one small apspect of offence or a certain type of attack at a time. Although the college game is much simpler than the NFL, the insights I've picked up by reading this book have completely changed the way I watch football, be it college, CFL, or NFL. When I move to a different location where I can join a high school coaching team, this book will be soon find the pages being worn out. Absolutely excellent!

This guide is very usefull for to Duke Nukem 3D Gamer(not Atomic Or the PAK version). The book had all the secrets to each level and episode; good for people who want to master it. However if your a begginer, it tells you the basic and simple parts of Duke,his ego, and his enimies. Gives you a Map guide of the level and path to beat it. Gives hints, tips, and demos of other games by 3D Realms. however, the book can be hard to understand a bit for younger or less educated people. Still, a great book for a great price. get this book if you want to know how to MASTER Duke Nukem 3D!

As strategy gaming host for bellaonline.com, I have to read through quite a number of pitiful walkthroughs. This one is a great exception! The book is extremely well laid out, with clear, easy to use maps, tips and techniques. The instructions are all dead on. But best of all, the book isn't written assuming you're 2 years old. It's written with a fantastic style, with humor and knowledge all mixed together. I was extremely impressed, and this has stayed on my shelves while other books were tossed out long ago!

The Game Book for Duke Neukem 3D is the bomb! It has all the stuff you need to finish the game without missing blasting a thing! If you want the total experience of Duke's adventures, buy this guide!

If you want to read a military book that many senior defense and defense-related leaders would not want anyone to read and openly discuss, then read this thought-provoking gem from John Poole.

This book is a well researched analysis of the American (western) approach to and conduct of war, and its moral, physical, and political consequences. Accurate and powerful historical examples complement this analysis. Poole argues that despite all the claims of American military superiority at all levels, the U.S. military has grown so dependent on technology and massive ammunition expenditures that it has let its individual and small-unit skills and experiences atrophy and be lost.

If you believe that the U.S. military is by far the best in the world, then Poole's perspectives will challenge your beliefs. Read what he has to say about our World War II adversaries, think about what he says happened to us in Korea, follow his logic about what happened in Vietnam, remember our approach to and conduct of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, reflect on his discussion about our efforts in Somalia in 1993, and then see if you notice any common trends extending into our operations in Afghanistan. Scary stuff.

Fortunately, Poole also gives some common-sense advice to reverse the dangerous course we are following to tactical inferiority. This advice is exactly what many senior defense and defense-related leaders fear the most, for it would shatter the status quo in which they rose to power and have fought so hard to maintain.

Poole packs a big and important message into a small book that is as thought-provoking to the American taxpayers as it is to the American fighting men and women.

John Poole is a man with a mission-to raise the level of skill of American fighting units-and he has made me a disciple. Poole is well known in infantry circles for his thick manual of small unit technique called _The Last Hundred Yards: The NCOs Contribution to Warfare_. I have seen well-thumbed copies lying about in a battalion at Camp Lejeune, so I am not just taking the author's word for it.

This book, _One More Bridge to Cross: Lowering the Cost of War_, gives the ethical, religious, psychological, social, and professional military underpinnings of the above-mentioned practical handbook of ground unit technique. Gunny Poole is an original and an inspiration. I call him Gunny Poole in our e-mail and phone conversations, even though he left the Marine Corps for the first time at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He then re-enlisted as an enlisted man, retiring finally as a Gunnery Sergeant-a role and rank held in reference throughout the Marine Corps.

I need to tell you that Gunny Poole is a deeply religious Roman Catholic. The religious dimension of this book is probably its most significant and persuasive aspect. His religious teaching on military matters-which I agree with 100% coming from a different, but non-Catholic Biblical tradition-is that our religious ethics teach that the point of fighting in a just cause is *to win, not to kill*. Not only are the lives of our own service members precious, according to our religious teaching, but so are enemy lives, both civilian and combatant. The irreplaceable key to winning with minimum casualties, both ours and enemy, is SKILL. So small unit skill and small unit leader skill are religious imperatives. In almost any fight, especially one that goes on for a while, skill trumps technology. (See _Joint Forces Quarterly_, Summer, 1999.)

The author's other book, _The Last Hundred Yards: The NCOs Contribution to Warfare_, describes the elite-level small unit skills that ANY American unit can attain, if allowed to train properly under NCOs empowered to conduct this training. One More Bridge to Cross gives the maneuver warfare rationale for these practices that engage the intelligence and initiative of the lowest echelons. Poole puts before our eyes a vision of the lowliest infantryman as tactically expert in planning his moves for the next 50 meters as his battalion CO should be for the next 5,000.

I could go on and on singing the praises of these two books by John Poole, but far better for you to read and absorb them, than for me to convey the false sense that just by reading my review you get the "gist."

Jonathan Shay, M.D., Ph.D. Author of _Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character_ [in print as a Touchstone paperback] and _Odysseus in America_ [forthcoming from Scribner]. Dr. Shay speaks frequently to professional military audiences on cohesion, leadership, and training as the keys to preventing psychological and moral injury in military service.

One More Bridge to Cross is a must read for anyone interested in learning more about serious soldering at its most basic level. John Poole has very accurately broken down old military or for that matter conflict theories down to the level that does make a difference - the individual soldier and the things he fights for. When reading the book I kept nodding my head in consensus and admiration for the exact, precise and yet simple way Mr Poole discusses and tries to teach us common sense. Because that's what it is all about. No-nonsense and common sense. I as a captain in the Swedish Army recognize much of our (Swedish) way of training, leading and using our limited military assets in the Common-Sense Style. My current assignment is as an instructor at the Army Combat School. Therefore I will make this book mandatory reading for the young Swedish Army Cadets that I'm responsible to train in small-unit tactics.

I am convinced that in time every military institution will include John Poole's work in their teaching and training, just as well as we learn from Sun-Tzu and Clausewitz. He might even be one of our times great military theorists.

The Pearl Harbor Papers is a great body of insight into the planning of the Dec 7, 1941 attack. Although some of the charts breaking down the unit compositions are redundant (due to the same information in several different accounts), a look into the mind of Minoru Genda, the brilliant planner of the strike, is invaluable. Another interesting account is the battle diary of the destroyer Akigumo, which offers a unique view from that of a screening vessel. A real good supplement to the three volumes authored by Gordon Prange about the "Day of Infamy".

This book can be considered an appendix to Gordon W. Prange's "At Dawn We Slept, the untold story of Pearl Harbor." As an appendix, it is not a story but a collection of whatever significant material was found in the Prange archives related to the Pearl Harbor attack. As a result, it contains maps, diaries, comments, naval statistics, and so on, which are very helpful for the military specialist. Goldstein and Dillon, the co-editors, include a number of diaries, ship logs, or journals of commanders of the Japanese fleet covering the period from their departure from Hitokappu Bay to arrival day at Pearl Harbor, and these are in some cases very routine but do allow for a look at how the Japanese fleet dealt in a day-to-day way with the long and dangerous North Pacific trip and how they handled obstacles, such as refueling, morale and heavy seas.
However, the MOST IMPORTANT and significant part of this book, in my opinion, is at the very end of the book, and consists of an in-depth analysis of the Japanese military -- their planning, their methods, their ideas, their traditional beliefs -- by Masataka Chihaya. This critical analysis -- which should be read by all students of military history -- alone is well worth the price of the book for the student of the military and military tactics. But for the reader looking for battles, maneuvers, and other such action this book would be a disappointment. I give it 5 stars for the military student, 3 stars for others...

Gordon Prange, the dean of Pearl Harbor researchers, and his assistants Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, produced the essential trilogy on the before-during-and-after of the attack, "At Dawn We Slept" (1981), "December 7, 1941" (1988), and "Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History" (1986). In this book, Dillon and Goldstein produce some of their essential primary sources, key Japanese documents about the planning, execution, and aftermath of the attack.

One of the key distinctives of Prange's research and writing was that, unlike so many other writers about the attack, he never forgot the Japanese half of the equation. In fact, the Pearl Harbor attack was a massive tactical undertaking, and the Japanese carried it off brilliantly. Focusing entirely on, for example, how much FDR knew and when, means ignoring the magnitude of the Japanese accomplishment.

Prange never made this mistake. And it's his research and interviews in Japan that produced this important work, assembled and published by his two assistants. While "The Pearl Harbor Papers" may be too esoteric for casual students of the Day of Infamy, people with a more serious interest in the attack, or the Pacific War generally, will find much here to keep themselves occupied.

Of particular interest are several papers and affidavits by Minoru Genda, the key planner of the attack. Also very interesting is "An Intimate Look at the Japanese Navy," by Masataka Chihaya, a former officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, who shortly after the end of the war cataloged his services' successes and failures. It's a very clear-eyed document, and deserves a close reading.

On the whole, this is a very good book to add to your shelf of Pearl Harbor books (and anyone who has such a shelf unquestionably needs this).

As any player who responds to 1. e4 with 1. . . e5 will tell you, its really irritating to hope for an Italian Game and instead find yourself in a strange variation of the King's Gambit with no prior experience. Wandering around on a clifftop while blindfolded is a godd analogy. Emms' book is very useful in preparing a player for every white opening following 1 e4 e5 except for the Ruy Lopez. While a short book (only 224 pages) it is well worth the purchase price for the sheer density of its analysis. SImply put, this book consists of 200 pages of analysis with the occaisional sentence interspersed between moves (I exaggerate, but this is close to the truth). For an experienced player willing to spend hours poring over analysis and memoriing lines, this book is ideal. For a novice or a player with limited time for study, it should probably be avoided.

I am one of these players who is constantly changing openings. I play 1. d4 because it seems more in line with my cautious nature. Then I get frustrated because there are so many reposnses to prepare for (Dutch, Benoni, Stonewall, and all those King's Indians, Grunfeld's, Nimzos, etc.). So then I try flank openings like the English or the Nimzo-Larsen; but I get frustrated because of the tame positions with no advantage that often result. So, time and time again, I come back to 1. e4. Along with this, I usually go back to 1... e5 in response to 1. e4, so as to be improving by playing similar things as white and black. This Emms book is really wonderful. First, it is modern and recent, so you are not limited to reviewing games by Steinitz and Anderssen in reponse to the Italian, the Scotch, etc.; second, it has top-notch production and editorial qualities. Emms is a great chess writer, and GAMBIT's production and editing are the best in the business. Third, Emms gives you solid and exciting lines; fourth, these open games are what I really need to study to become better overall at chess. So, in sum, when you decide to play 1...e5, this is the most important book for you, in addition to whatever you have to face the Ruy Lopez. At my level (around 1600), you will see far more Italian games than Ruy Lopez', so you will have plenty of chances to play the Two Knights Defence.

This book provides a repetoire for black after 1.e4 e5 (excluding the Ruy Lopez, the addition of which would add at least 200 pages). The coverage is very good and recomendations are top of the line.

The recommendation against the King's Gambit is: 1.e5 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 (3.Bc4 --coverage is of ...Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4!? and 4. ...c6. The first is a reversed Schliemann Attack in the Ruy Lopez. After 5.e5 d5! a position is reached in which it is favorable for white to have played with an extre tempo as in the regular version, there would not be a bishop available to attack. 4. ...c6 is the trusted main line where black plans d5.) g5! 4.h4 (against 4.d4 and 4.Bc4, Emms gives the option of Bg7! holding on to the pawn.) g4 5.Ne5 (5.Ng5?! h6 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 is recommended) Nf6 (the Berlin Defense! This would definitely be my choice for black. I have played the white side of the King's Gambit before and studied it using Neil McDonald's "The King's Gambit." This move appears to be stronger than 5. ...d6!?) 6.Bc4 d5 7.exd5 Bd6 (also the move I would choose over Bg7.) Emms goes on to cover the rest of the lines and even covers a line not in McDonald's book, the Rice Gambit. I was very pleased to see such good recommendations made here. For those who enjoy treading off the beaten path, the Becker defense (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 h6!?) is also given as another defense(!) to the King's Gambit.

The Two Knights Defence is the recommendation against the Italian Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6). At first I was put off by the combativeness of this opening and wished Emms had recommended the positional Guioco Piano instead (3. ...Bc5). However, I soon realized that I was learning how to play the open games and one should fight for any advantage one can get when playing this type of opening. Developement is important and one should be ready to sacrifice a pawn or two to accelerate it. A complete repetoire for the Two Knights Defence is given. Against 4.Ng5 the recommendation is 4. ...d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bc6 c6 7.dxc6 bxc6. The Traxler (Wilkes-Barre) variation is not covered, i.e., instead of 4. ...d5 one plays 4. ...Bc5. For 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 Emms gives both the more simple Nxe4 and the more complicated Bc5. The latter can lead to the Max Lange Attack. If you have heard of this opening and wondered what it was, here is your chance to play it.

I have just realized that if I don't stop talking about the specifics with this book I will never shutup. Here is some more general information about the book: In almost every major variation, more than one option is given to black. Both declining and accepting various gambits is covered. Generally, one option is given for the adventurous player and one is given for the positional player. Emms does a great deal of home analysis and provides good background information on each opening. He really does cover every option available to white from second move alternatives to move 30 and beyond of the Max Lange Attack.

If you are interested in playing the black side of 1.e4 e5, you really do need this book to have a coherent repetoire. Besides, it is one of the best openings repetoire books you will ever find.