economics-software

Having been in venture capital related fields for over 10 years, this is THE term sheet to use when doing venture capital deals (as entrepreneur, lawyer, or venture capitalist). The document is ready to use, so you can literally just plug in your numbers and alter minor wording where necessary. The other documents, such as the non-disclosure agreement are also incredibly useful.

This book, despite the editorial description on this page, is entirely about hardware/software integration as it pertains to managing acquisition risk for the buyer and the processes and procedures that need to be employed by the developer.

If you work within the framework of the FDA's General Principles of Software Validation or the FAA's DO-178B for safety-critical avionics the material is consistent with these governing documents, but is too outdated to be useful.

However, if you are working on integrated projects that are unregulated with respect to government controls you may find this book useful. It contains a wealth of useful guidelines for establishing and managing processes to support development of products that are based on embedded software or hardware/software integration, The core of this book is a collection of templates that were developed and proven in the DoD industry, and are designed to manage integrated testing, failure management and field feedback. Each element is applicable to commercial environments, especially for companies that are manufacturing intelligent network devices, data storage systems and specialty products such as digital control systems, sensors and other integrated hardware/software products.

The templates are introduced in Chapter 1, and each of the seven functional areas covered by the templates are discussed in separate chapters. These functional areas are: integrated testing, failure reporting, design limits, product life, test/analyze/fix process, uniform test reporting and field feedback. A chapter on applying these follows, but the material is slanted towards DoD issues. If you apply thought and imagination while reading this chapter you should get ideas on how to refactor the cases into your own environment.

Section 2 devotes three chapters to software design and test, which are based on the older waterfall development life cycle. However, this particular life cycle lends itself well to developing embedded systems, making this material valid and applicable to commercial environments.

Overall, this is a useful book for the intended audience I cited above if you can track down a copy. In particular, the checklists and overall framework are valuable, and much can be learned from the risk-based approach taken in the book.

I found That Kind of Money in a mystery bookstore and bought it for my young niece and nephew. Before passing the book along, I read a few pages, just to get a feel for the story, and the next thing I knew, it was nearly midnight and I'd finished it. How it compares with other juvenile fiction, I can't say, since I can't recall when I last read any, but I found the characters--both teen and adult--deftly drawn and completely convincing. There is a genuine mystery, with a believable solution, at the heart of of the novel; there is a certain amount of suspense and tension. But, mostly there is humor, in the situations portrayed, and in the rueful take the two adolescent protagonists--Woody and Steve--have on themselves and the other people in their small world. A few locutions (like "hydro" for "electricity" and "slivers" for "splinters") mark the characters as Canadian but this is a story that could take place anywhere there is snow at Christmas and Chambers of Commerce to sponsor seasonal decoration contests and teenagers who dream of being rock stars. A book well worth buying, in my opinion; I'll let you know what the niece and nephew have to say on the topic.

Very complete guide, following the standards set forth by the Que "Using" series. Covers using all parts of ACT! 4, including SideACT! and reports. The information included in this book will help you take ACT! 4 to the limit, you will find yourself getting the most out of ACT! than you thought possible. ACT! is the easiest to understand of the Contact managers, no wonder it is the market leader.

When this book was first published nearly four years ago from the date of this review, it addressed a narrow niche - managing virtual teams in large-scale engineering projects. Moreover, the book is more biased towards product management than project management, although there is considerable overlap in the two domains. Fast forward to today, and the material no longer addresses a narrow niche, making this book an important resource to a much wider audience. I am evaluating this book from the perspective of an IT professional, and see the audience as follows:
- project and program managers overseeing development that has been outsourced to off-shore providers, especially in the IT environment
- IT professionals who have (or are in danger of) losing their jobs because of the trend towards off shore outsourcing. Managing virtual teams is a viable, alternative career option in which this audience segment can employ their technical knowledge and gain the management knowledge to be successful.
- executive management exploring the feasibility, risks and challenges of outsourcing to off shore providers and who are seeking a management strategy for making it work

Of course, the audience is wider than I've cited, and the best way to determine if you are among it I'm giving my assessment of the knowledge and approach the book imparts. First, the author weaves in cases, personal experience and anecdotal stories into the text making the book highly readable. He approaches the way to establish and effectively manage a virtual team by focusing on the key barriers and offering solutions.

The biggest barriers are communication and cultural differences (both company and human varieties), so much of the book is devoted to overcoming those in all of their forms. I particularly liked the knowledge dissemination and retention strategies the author provides because knowledge management is directly linked to communication, but is an often overlooked element that will make or break a geographically and culturally dispersed team's success. The core of this book, however, is the structured and methodical eight-step framework in which you can establish a virtual team. This framework has the following steps:

1 - Careful selection of team leaders with an emphasis on leadership and conflict resolution skills.
2 - A clearly defined architecture upon which work splitting and tasking are based.
3 - Develop a build plan and ensure that the proper supporting infrastructure is in place.
4 - Establish and enforce communication rules.
5 - Identify and implement the low level project organization.
6 - Detailed planning that takes into account all elements of the virtual team.
7 - Test the organizational concept.
8 - Execute.

For each of the above steps the author provides in-depth details, challenges and how to overcome them, and supporting rationale. In addition, the appendices in this book are invaluable in that they contain templates, checklists, and other information that fleshes out what is required to effectively manage a virtual team. Appendix L, "Synopsis of 34 Insights and 50 Solutions", is especially valuable because it summarizes the key challenges of virtual team management.

This is a great alternative way to review auditing for CPA Exam, if you have taken at least one auditing class in college.

The materials are consisting of 5 audio CDs, not CD-ROM. Six modules are included in the five CDs as follows:

1.Engagement planning 2.Internal Control 3.Evidence 4.Reporting 5.Audit Sampling 6.Auditing with Technology.

Module 5 and 6 are included in the same CD.

This impact audio is organized in bitable chunk, compare to the original 12 audiocassettes tape program by Patrick Delaney.... Now, you can review important auditing concepts in about 6 hours.

Great companion for your commuting and gym exercise!

Interpretation and Application of GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES 2001 - is an excellent reference material on GAAP covering all relavent topics in a very comprehensive and easy to understand language. Its 23 chapters covers all the topics that you would refer on a day to day basis. For candidates who are planning to write CPA exams, this book is the best source of information on various GAAPs and their practical application. It provides invaluable information on the researching GAAP problems in Chapter 1 and describes how GAAP hierarchy works, I find this chapter very useful in understanding the basic scheme of integration of various GAAP which has originate from multiple sources.

Other chapters covers the topics relating to balance sheet, statements of income and comprehensive income, statement of cash flows, cash, receivables and prepaid expenses, short term investments and financial instruments, inventory, special revenue recognition areas, long lived assets, investments, business combinations and consolidated financial statements, current liabilities and contingencies, long term debt, leases, income taxes, pensions, shareholders' equity, earnings per share, interim and segment reporting, accounting changes and correction of errors, foreign currency, personal financial statements and specilized industry GAAP.

If you work in accounting, this is the only reference book you need.

This book gives the full coverage of current IASs (at the end of 2002) and extensively discusses ongoing IASB projects which are expected to come in force in 2003.

The book gives somewhat different from the European/UK approach to IASs... for example, benchmark treatment is assumed by authors as "preferred". The other major source of IAS guidance - Butterworths Tolley's UK and International GAAP - specifically states that "although the terms 'benchmark' and 'allowed alternative' were retained, the IASC Board has made it clear that both treatments enjoy equal status. The fact that one approach is labelled 'benchmark' does not mean that it is the Board's preferred approach.".

All in all Wiley IAS 2003 is a must buy for all dealing with IASs. Due to lack of current US textbook in international accounting this book becomes more that a reference for a professional. It may also be useful source for accounting students and teachers wishing to better understand differences between US GAAP/IAS differences in treatments and approaches.

This is a powerful integrative entrepreneurial case study involving an actual radio station in Illinois. It comes complete with interviews, an interactive study group to help you analyze the case, and a very colorful story of a remarkable man. It makes a nice integrative case for MBA or undergrads and can be used in marketing, strategy, or managerial accounting. It's a big favorite of the 800+ students I've taught this to.