effect

are writing on this subject. Read _The Yeast Connection_, by Dr. William Crook (and _The Yeast Connection and the Woman_, _The Body Ecology Diet_, by Donna Gates, _The Food Doctor_, by Vicki Edgson Dipion and Ian Marber Dipion. Also, _Potatoes, Not Prozac_.

The author does seem bent on this one cause and, therefore, many of the conclusions feel incomplete. There is much good in this book. Especially the list and categories of foods.

Take it from one who lost most of the "evil" symptoms of sugar poisoning by eliminating it for one year. Thought I was becoming diabetic, passed out almost every afternoon and woke up with a hangover, had symptoms of MS, had a red rash on my face, itched all over, ached all over, cried all the time, had symptoms of bipolar disorder. You name it. They all disappear in my life when the sugar does.

If you suspect you have a problem read any book on the symptoms of sugar addiction.

I am a chocoholic. Since I was in my 20s, I steadily gained weight, and after my second child was born, I no longer had any kind of equilibrium at all. Of late, other unpleasant symptoms such as gas and increasing hypoglycemic-like symptoms were troubling me, in addition to being nearly obese. My brother died last year of a heart attack at age 42, and that coupled with my own increasing cholesterol levels induced me to search for help. My doctor recommended "Mastering the Zone" but my bookstore didn't have it, so I picked up this book. Long curious about the truth of chocoholism and the effects of sugar on health, I snatched it up. I have greatly reduced the amount of sugar in my diet, and after a week, still feel kind of "loopy", but I hope in another week my energy will pick up. I think this was the boost I needed to improve my eating habits.

This is a WONDERFUL and ENLIGHTENING work! Thank you for compiling this information and for sharing your own personal experience with Sugar Addiction Nancy Appleton . I have an interest in sugar addiciton and it's affects on the human body and found your book to be a great learning source.

The book is very good teaching Particles, but there are better tutorials online. It was written for Maya 2.5. So, if your using Maya 3 or 4, there's parts changed.
I was required to buy this book for a class at RIT, I recommend anyone who is required to buy the book for a class or any sorts to see if someone else has the book. Because, spending money on an old tutorial book and getting frustrated is a no no, when your trying to learn a new program.
Hopefully, there will be an updated book in the future, now Maya has become a powerful particle tool.

I've read almost every graphics books (3D and games). So, let me give my analysis of this book.

My opinion is this book is a very GOOD book. I've seen other books that give all kind of false advertising - duplicate half of the manuals, copy articles from all over the places etc. (You will be surprise how many of these are lying around) Those deserve a one star rating. But this book is one of a kind that serve as a good reference for Maya. It doesnt take the manual and repeat them here, which is what I love about.

But, I believe because this is the first book on Maya, many people would probably rush to buy it without reading from the author that it is not a beginner book but one specifically written for effects wannabe. That probably explain why some of the readers are pulling out their hair while doing the tutorials. The other reason I believe is likely due to the printing errors. But hack, programs have bugs, system has flaws. There are more books that have more errors than this one! Besides, those errors are really minor.

So, my recommendation is very simple:

a. If you're first time Maya user, buy the learning maya book from alias wavefront. This one is not for you.

b. If you're experience user, but know nothing more than those from the manuals, buy this book. It has some really good theory and practice of effects.

c. If you like books that tell you and explain very thing step by step, this one is not for you.

d. If you dont mind people throwing the codes and answers to you and expect you to think, this is the book you should get.

I placed my order when I was in Siggraph and picked it up only recently. It certainly looks better than before! This book is very informative and easy to follow. The theory part tends to be academic and so is a little dry. But it explains to the point about those things like noise, octaves, render, light etc. If there is something I want to bark about, it's give me MORE theory. The author seems to have a way to arose your interest but stop at the point when u get really excited and want to know more. The tutorials are well organized. I managed to get a really cool fire effects out from the first two tutorials. But if this is your first Maya tutorial, better not jump pages. You'll sure hit the walls. This book is not a spoon-fed book. So you got to tickle your brain a little and analyze some TASK and NOTES. I find the method of presentation VERY useful and informative for me. One place you will want to visit is the book's website (4deffects.com). There are some useful info and updates. Overall I think it is more than worth my money that I spent attending some useless CG classes in downtown!

I bought this book hoping to learn more about compositing techniques and instead had to skim throught all the explanations of how to use Digital Fusion. If you don't use Digital Fusion don't bother with this book. Literally half of the book has tutorials that read more like a software step by step than an actual overview of compositing. I usually don't like to write negative reviews, but I really don't like spending money on a poor product. Sorry.

For someone who is new to compositing, this book could give you a new perspective on the 2D half of the visual effects industry. Most of the information in this book is embedded in the tutorials and projects, so it is sometimes hard to read and study the book unless you have the same software installed and are following tutorial steps.

Although it was not focused on just one compositing program, a proponderance of the tutorials seemed to be centered around Digital Fusion, which is appropriate because a demo version of Digital Fusion is included on the book's CD-ROMs (the demo is full functional except that it adds a company logo to random places on your composited frames), giving you everything you need to start learning to composite.

If you are interested in compositing, also consider the Ron Brinkman's wonderful new book "The Art and Science of Digital Compositing" - Brinkman's insightful book is not tutorial-based, but is very comprehensive and contains more film-industry-oriented examples (as opposed to Kelly's book, which seems slightly more geared towards video work.)

hi,
I teach compositing(after effects,combustion,flame).
I read this book a few years back when i was just starting out and refer it as a MUST READ to all my students.
I wish the author had followed up after this book...woder why he did not :( .
this book is a bit dated but has all the theory and practise you'll eve need.Actually it'll be more than what you need if youre just starting out.

4 stars cause no one or nuthing is perfect.

thanks kelly.

b

I give this book two stars, even though it's not very scientific in its approach (using lots of statistical tricks and skews to aid its cause).
Parents, don't let this book scare you away from ADHD medications:
I was a B student and chronic underachiever until I started ADHD medication in college--my grades and academic enthusiasm immediately took off, and I'm headed for an Ivy league graduate program next year. I also became more socially conscious and cooperative--this fact stands in stark contrast to everything Dr. Breggin has to say. I haven't seen any deterioration in cognitive function--in fact, I would say that my critical thinking skills have vastly improved.

My general hypothesis on ADHD (as if you care) is that the human brain is meant for much more excitement and arousal than the bureacratic drudgeries of contemporary society can offer. We have the chemicals in our brain to relay such coarse messages such as "kill animal" and "run from animal." The ADHD "sufferer" is merely looking for this excitement, and stimulants provide it, so we can sit still.

Dr. Breggin has become a leading critic of the standard psychiatric approach to labeling and treating children with challenging behavioral symptoms. This book is a thorough examination of the scientific debate as well as political, economic, and psychosocial factors involved in the issue. Breggin makes many excellent points in this book about the interactions between body, mind, and environment that are largely ignored by most medical and mental health professionals. Drugs are routinely used as a form of chemical restraint, even though the withdrawal phase of the drugs actually triggers the "imbalances" and likelihood of misbehaviors that they are supposed to treat. Those who believe the medications are a wonderful way of controlling behavior believe this out of ignorance of alternative approaches to really helping the child become physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy. It is easy to just continually drug someone into submission, but in other contexts this is usually considered an abuse of human rights. The lack of responsibility and commitment by adults toward finding ways of helping children develop positive motivation and social skills is certainly one factor in the epidemic of psychiatric labeling and psychotropic drug prescriptions. The incompetence of physicians to identify real physical issues that impact children's ability to concentrate, such as poor nutrition, neurological impairment, allergies, exposure to drugs and toxins, and hormonal disturbances, is another factor. The propaganda and social programming that falsely claim mental illness is biologically determined is another factor. Having worked in the mental health field in Florida as a licensed counselor for several years, I have observed much of what Breggin talks about. Children who are labeled "ADD" in one school or home environment suddenly appear normal when their family environment becomes less stressful or when they are placed with a more compassionate teacher or in a less stressful educational setting, such as a Montessori school. When children form more positive relationships they are often suddenly able to concentrate adequately and remain more calm when necessary. Meanwhile, I have seen many children who became depressed or bipolar as an apparent effect of their medications, and have seen no lasting progress associated with drug treatments. That adults treat highly active and inattentive children poorly and treat subdued children better is true, but that is a problem of the adults that is being displaced onto the children who are given drugs that are addictive and perpetuate the child's lack of self-motivated control. There are multiple parenting and educational programs that have successfully reversed "ADD/ADHD" behavior patterns, even in supposedly severe cases, by merely helping adults minimize their emotional reactions to the targeted negative behaviors and increasing positive social attention given to the children. The physical correlates of ADD/ADHD symptom patterns are typically modulated by the psychological factors present in the individual, and cannot usually be considered to be the root causal source of the symptoms. Various alternative medicine approaches, from naturopathy, oriental medicine, energy medicine, mind-body stress management, nutritional therapy, and more have shown usefulness in reversing the ADD/ADHD symptoms, as these target various levels of the pattern, ranging from emotions, stress, and subtle energy disturbances to nutritional imbalances and metabolic disturbances, with the physical disturbances usually being triggered or facilitated in some way by non-physical (psychological & psychosocial) issues. Mental health clinics and physicians have become increasingly controlled and programmed by the pharmaceutical industry. They are showered with gifts, including boxloads of office supplies (featuring drug ads) and brochures with misleading information about "disorders" and pharmaceutical company ads for patients as well as trips and meals, typically delivered by attractive young women and less often by young men pharmaceutical reps [all of whom become speechless or irritated when you try to discuss the actual safety and efficacy of the drugs with them beyond letting them repeat their script]. I have seen all this myself, and see the pharmaceutical paraphernalia all over the office of the agency I've worked at, as well as seeing psychiatrists routinely prescribe drugs with no medical exam or any other basis than the intent to briefly manipulate mood and behavior - things anyone could do using street drugs, which happen to manipulate neurotransmitter systems the same way that prescribed drugs do. I commend Dr. Breggin for his efforts to wake people from the massive deceptions and denials governing mental health care and the topic of ADD/ADHD.

I am a licensed clinical social worker with seven years' experience working with troubled children, and am now director of a large therapeutic foster care program. From my practical experience, and from my reading, the negative reviews of this book, calling Breggin unscientific, ranting, etc. have got it exactly wrong. The "literature" supporting Ritalin and other stimulants is biased and only intermittently scientific - more like ad copy than fact.

It is easy to see why stimulants dominate the treatment of ADHD. Drug companies spend over $20 billion a year on promotion - more than they spend on research.What does this money buy them? David Healy, internationally known psychiatric researcher and writer, claims about 50 percent of all psychiatric journal articles are ghost written by employees of drug companies, and that 30% of The American Psychiatric Association's income comes from drug company subsidies, grants and advertising. Around 70 percent of all drug research is funded by the drug companies themselves, and most of the rest, funded by the government, is heavily influenced by drug companies' extensive lobbying machinery.

Major journals (including The New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet) have lamented the control of research and publishing by drug company money: The New England Journal of Medicine editorialized, stating they could hardly find reviewers for their psychiatric drug articles who did not have conflicts of interest due to financial ties with drug companies. Studies funded by drug companies, that don't support the companies' drugs, are rarely published.

The bottom line: professionals and the public are bombarded with a stream of "research" and "information" financed and spun by the people who make and sell these drugs. The conflict of interest is palpable.

Many people lack access to effective non-drug ways to deal with "ADHD." But this is no proof that the drugs are especially effective and safe - it just shows the advantage of having billions of dollars to finance and promote the drugs.

I have a challenge for readers who dismiss Breggin's book: Read half a dozen responsible critiques of biopsychiatry and psychiatric drugs. Try David Healy's The Creation of Psychopharmacology, also Healy's Let Them Eat Prozac (soon to come out in the U.S.), Robert Whitaker's Mad in America, Glenmullen's Prozac Backlash, Fisher and Greenberg's From Placebo to Panacea - Putting Psychiatric Drugs to the Test, and Elliott Valenstein's Blaming the Brain - The Truth About Drugs and Mental Health.

These are not works by new agers who think crystals heal schizophrenia. They are by respected academics, researchers and clinicians (and not all of them, especially Healy and Glenmullen, are against psychiatric drugs).

But read these books, and note the claims and evidence they cite about the drugs. Now, here's the challenge: look in mainstream psychiatric literature for any serious attempt to address these claims. I've read over forty books, pro and con, on psychiatric drugs - and I've yet to find pro-drug literature that addresses 98% of these arguments, not in general, and not point by point.

This is a matter of informed consent. See if Peter Breggin's words in Toxic Psychiatry are not at least very plausible: "In the world of modern psychiatry claims can become truth, hopes can become achievements and propaganda is taken as science".

Yes, Breggin is angry. He pulls no punches and gives no quarter. But he deserves serious consideration - he has been qualified as an expert witness in numerous product liability cases against drug companies around the country. Try to find, anywhere, point by point refutations of the specific claims he makes in this book. Except for a few points, biopsychiatry's silence on Breggin's claims is deafening. Ask an "authority" on ADHD whether, as Breggin claims, the pannel of experts at the NIH Consensus Conference on ADHD DID or DID NOT conclude in their final report, "..there are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction," and ask the "authority" who it was that later took it upon himself to edit that statement to muddle the wording, but without changing its bottom line. And ask if it is true that the conference organizer, Peter Jensen, later admitted in a 2000 article that the experts at this conference found NO proof that "ADHD reflects a disordered state."(See Breggin, page 16).

If, after looking into the issue, you decide to give your child Ritalin, so be it. But each parent, child and professional deserves to know the whole story - something you will not get reading standard psychiatric literature.

Depression is a serious illness, especially for those who have not been helped by antidepressants or who have possibly even experienced an exerbation of their symptoms following a regimen of SSRI meds. Sadly, Dr. Hedaya's book raises questions about his sincerity in helping those with depression, not to mention suspicions about his understanding of the disabling features of the disease or his compassion with those afflicted by it.

What you will find here is an overwhelming miscellany of recommendations, directives, and advice--from diet to exercise to meditation to testing for thyroid and endocrine functioning to social and psychological counseling. He may as well have told the depressed reader to stop being depressed, as any individual capable of carrying out Dr. Hedaya's program would practically have to be an energized, focused, motivated Olympic athlete to begin with. Any author who in the year 2000 demonizes "processed," "unnatural" foods, suggesting that whole wheat, "natural" products will help alleviate depression is not only trivializing the illness but exposing his own ignorance, arrogance, and greed.

Perhaps there is a reader likely to profit from this book: a patient who has been successfully treated by antidepressants but who is experiencing some reduction of sexual desire and who now wishes to employ his or her newfound energy in a dietary/weightlifting/positive thinking program to take therapy to a higher level.

If you are genuinely depressed, if you are concerned about side-effects other than a diminishing of libido, if you wish to learn anything specific about the chemistry and effects of a complex array of various antidepressant medications, look elsewhere.

Dr. Hedaya's book should be able to help most of the depressed people out there. His holistic approach is important, especially his advice to get aerobic exercise daily. Again, if the AVERAGE moderately depressed person follows this program, they should see significant improvement, along with taking an antidepressant, of course. But not everyone will benefit, as you have read from some of the other reviews. Even taking an antidepressant, exercising, eating right, taking supplements and having a "spiritual" connection (religion, meditation, etc.) will not be enough for some people (up to 30% of those depressed). This is because there are other problems besides serotonin deficiency in depression. Anxiety may be worsened by antidepressants, and many mood disorders may be caused by a Histamine imbalance (in fact, two-thirds of Schizophrenics have a Histamine imbalance). If you still have anxiety after taking an antidepressant, lower the dose! (and try Buspar, then Ativan). And get your histamine level checked by an Endocrinologist. Another good book about self-help with mental illness is The Failures of American Medicine.

Recently, I was browsing through the Internet checking out literature on depression and couldn't believe that I came across Dr. Robert Hedaya for he was at one time my psychopharmacologist, pscyhotherapist...he was my salvation. And, I have only one regret: not staying with him longer in therapy. Nonetheless, I am therefore responding because I was upset by some of the comments by readers. I assure you that this man does not lack compassion -- his commitment to one is not easily or readily noticeable until you find that one day he has somehow strengthened you, he has provided you with the tools necessary to pick yourself up and to carry on ... he works with the mind and body ... I have heard countless stories of his compassion and I am one of the survivors who owes tribute to his knowledge and his commitment to the process. I remember feeling better when I would walk out of his office... I still remember his words to this day... Dr.Hedaya, if you are reading this, I thank you.... S.M.W. (p.s. - I made it to California!)

Digital Domain is James Cameron's special effects firm in Venice, California. The book is a story of their challenges and success in creating the new worlds of techno-media where we are immersing ourselves within the story because of the power of special and visual effects. Titanic, Terminator and more -- are used as examples. Visually gorgeous, great cover and lots of terrific information. Focuses JUST on Digital Domain but does introduce us to the world of visual effects that is being created as you read this by the melding of art and science in the new multimedia environment. Beyond the technology there is a brilliance that is influencing all of our communication today -- from the rise of the SCREENAGER who uses multiple communications devices and techniques to the interactive experience that even shopping has become. Shoppertainment, infotainment, edutainment and more -- all are being changed by firms and innovators like Digital Domain and ILM of course. Not easy to read but great to thumb through and then focus on later.

This is simply a beautiful book about incredibly talented and creative people, and the special effects they create. It is quite detailed, without getting to technical or boring. If you enjoy special effects movies (or movies in general) and wants to know more about how bluescreen, compositing, CGI and more is done, this is the book for you. It gives you a wonderful insight into the creative team that is Digital Domain. Essential buy!

Digital Domain has provided some of the finest special effects in the movie world, and this provides the first inside look at the works of a company noted for creating stunning scenes. Their techniques, special effects, and processes are demonstrated visually in frame-by-frame deconstructions which are involving and most illuminating. Highly recommended for any involved in film art.

Reading this book, I was so aghast at the awful writing that I hardly remember what the plot was about. The only reason I forced myself to finish was because I had paid money for the book. I've learned two important lessons: First, next time I find a book at the used book store which looks "new" I'll know its because the book was so bad the previous owner didn't read it. And second, no more Rita Mae Brown! Anybody who was a fan of her older works should look else where.

I've read and loved the Sneaky Pie mysteries for years, but had fallen 2 books behind when I picked up Pawing Through the Past and Claws and Effect. Now, I realize I'm in a specialized area and am nitpicking this book because of my personal experiences, but this book really bugged me. Through 7 books we've been exposed to "tiny" Crozet, Virginia (in one book, its population was given as 1700 people). But here we are supposed to believe it has a world-class teaching hospital which has a pediatric intensive care unit (Tussie Logan at one point refers to a child from Guatemala she's taking care of), specialists like orthopedic surgeons (Buxton, "one of the leading knee specialists in the country"!)and worst, A TRANSPLANT CENTER!!! I work in a hospital in a city of 500,000 people, and none of our 5 hospitals has a transplant center (there's only one in the state, in the capital city). I came from a city of 20,000 which has a 25-bed hospital, with a usual census of 5-10 patients! Harry speculates that 3 people with healthy organs die per week at Crozet Hospital (remember, a town of 1700 people). It just goes on and on!

I am disappointed that Ms. Brown has such a low opinion of her readers (or that she doesn't feel it's necessary to at least make these mysteries minimally realistic because they're making her millions).

If you need to read this one to complete the series, do it. If you're starting here, it's obvious to me Ms. Brown is just grinding these stories out because she has a successful franchise. Go back and read the first books, they're fun and, while not totally believable, at least not ludicrous. We'll see how Catch as Cat Can goes... I may have to give them up.

Like all of Rita Mae Brown's "Mrs. Murphy" series, CLAWS AND EFFECT reintroduces us to the residents of tiny Crozet, Virginia, a community of small-town archetypes in which the animal friends of various residents occasionally help their humans solve a murder in their midst. And this time the murder is a particularly bloody one: a member of the hospital staff is found with his throat cut ear to ear in the hospital boiler room. As usual, the mystrey entices Postmistress Mary "Harry" Harristeen--and when her own safety is threatened, her two cats (Mrs. Murphy and Pewter) and dog (Tee-Tucker) come to the rescue by investigating the crime for themselves.

The Mrs. Murphy series is light reading, of course, and taking it too seriously undermines the fun. As usual, the great attraction here is not the plot--for Brown has never really bothered to work out the tightly puzzle prized by hard-core mystery fans--but the way in which the thing is written: frothy, funny, and amusing. Unfortunately, CLAWS AND EFFECT has little of the froth we usually expect, and it may be that Brown has begun to tire of her creation, but it still makes for an entertaining way to pass an evening. Fans will enjoy it.

I used the negative calorie diet about a year ago when I was having trouble getting a girlfriend. I went from 210lbs to 180 lbs. (I'm not sure of the time frame, but it didn't take very long), and I am 5'10" tall. The book says that it is better to do some of this diet than none at all. I always eat at all you can eat places, and I didn't have a hard time finding the foods. I am a "hard core carnivore" (my words), so it was a big switch for me. I refuse to be a "veggie", but it doesn't hurt to do this or even incorporate it into your diet. If half of the food you eat is neg-cal that means you will have (approx.) 50% less calories than you would have other-wise. Try it, that is all I can tell you, if you don't like it you can try something else. I also noticed that your body doesn't need to break down your muscle tissue for energy so you don't lose muscle. Most diets are just diuretics and don't work, this will. PS: I got a girlfriend right after I lost the weight.

I accidently found this book at the local library. In 5 months of following the book's guidelines, I lost 55 lbs!
I've tried just about every diet imaginable and this seems to be the only thing that works. I thought it was going to be a major sacrifice, but when you lose weight this quick, you realize that it really isn't and that it's worth it!
Everyone should read this book, even if you're not overweight. You'll look AND feel better!

I used to be 12 stone. I tried various diets to get my weght down, including the low carbohydrate diet.The only diet that worked is the one promoted in this book: namely a low fat vegan diet plus 30 minutes of exercise each day.
I got my weight down to 8 stone 11 pounds using the ideas in this book.
There is far more variety in my diet now than there was when I ate animal foods.

'The Alignment Effect' is a review of issues related to the "business technology disconnect."

The highly anecdotal chapters are nicely written and include cameo references from a variety of credible people. Unfortunately, the result is an informal hodgepodge of IT assessments and claims that lead to uncharted waters, which would likely lead to results more pernicious than the problem.

There are many books that integrate portfolio management, project management, and IT planning with a dose of knowledge management and collaboration that help accomplish the claimed results without entering the over-simplified world that this book presents.

My comments on each major section:

Section 1 -- A wordy regurgitation of the fact that IT doesn't always get everything right the first time. This is clearly an attempt to build credibility, but fails to me, since this problem has been well known since the 70s.

Section 2 -- A totally informal section, purporting to be "principles," yet failing to deliver any real framework for understanding or action. It doesn't even clarify or regurgitate, I'm not sure where this stuff comes from. I don't sense any deep understanding of IT or its issues. It reads well, but says nothing useful.

Section 3 -- This tries to turn the essence of section 2, whatever that could be, into action, apparently to make the book a practical guide. It tries to give an enlightened holistic sounding end-to-end view, and fails, leaving only something more like the cuttings from Pulp Fiction or Memento. The coverage of business models is more like how to organize a simple table of contents and document your business model. The real point is business model documentation, not definition. The book shows know understanding of a "business model" in any sense from marketing through finance. The discussion of process optimization is thin and useless, hundreds of books are available that cover process design and implementation quite well -- skip this section. The conversion of all this into "automation" goes into a toddler-like realm of simplicity, and not in the positive senses that might connote.

Section 4 -- On to Governance, another hot buzzword. Loosely speaking, this section tries to build on the earlier sections to talk to modern governance issues. This is the dangerous section. There is nothing to base this section on, the book isn't a new framework or idea, not even a good regurgitation of present knowledge. The governance section does elucidate goals of governance reasonably, but suggests a governance approach that will be as unresponsive to real technology issues as the absolute worst of IT departments might be to business issues. At best, this section would help swing the pendulum the other way, though it would more likely just cut it off.

Sadly, the book has good style, presentation, and writing, but lacks useful or coherent content. The few reasonable ideas that appear are endlessly repeated, suggesting the author doesn't believe the reader gets it the first five times. More likely, the author has nothing else to say.

The book is timely, but misses the mark. There are many solid books in this arena that are based in workable practices, yet remain high accessible to a broad audience. This book seems highly rushed to me, like the author had an idea and the book came out 30 days later. Somehow the style is good, but the content lacks research or forethought.

Professor Roger P. Ellenhurst
California University Coalition

Hoque gives great information on what troubles IT today. The Alignment Effect is quite fun to read. I think he gave me a sense of the IT situation in most corporations, beyond the few places I've been in my career.

If I'd gained a sense of how to fix things, I'd give the book 3 or 4 stars. Unfortunately, I didn't get any sense of how to change things. The lack of suggestions to drive change is a shortcoming and left me empty and feeling partly like I wasted my time.

I liked Sarv Devaraj's book on the IT payoff much better. It is dry and harder to read. On the plus side, it gives me an idea of what to measure and change first.

A quick pass through this book gives you a sense of issues for IT departments. Credibility is down, budgets squeezed, half finished projects. IT is in the dumps these days.

I get the feeling Faisal Hoque thinks IT departments area stupd. They should be closely monitored by business leaders at all times. I agree.

The book gives you a good sense of issues. It falls short on presenting solutions.

It nicely covers IT governance. It is a good intro or refresher for governance and hits the right points for me.

Gelbspan is a reporter for the Boston Globe who does a great job of describing the science, economics and politics behind gobal climate change. He does an excellent job of defining the problem (in layman's terms) and discussing the disinformation campaign sponsored by the oil industry.

If you're looking for the nitty-gritty science behind global warming, you will find only a sampling in the appendix. Gelbspan starts with the assumption that the thousands of world class climatologists who make up the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) are correct in their consensus that climate change is real and happening now. From that assumption, he unleashes a barrage of disturbing anecdotal evidence describing the many effects of climate change. He also unmasks the efforts of a few scientists backed by the oil industry to sabotage the findings of IPCC. The book presents a thorough and disturbing expose of this effective PR campaign to neutralize the warnings of the scientific community.

"The Heat is On" is a well-researched, detailed description of how the coal and oil industries are trying (and succeeding) to confuse the issue of global warming today. In this frightening exposé, Ross Gelbspan shows how the fossil fuel industries are spending millions of dollars to confuse the public through misleading advertising and PR tactics in order to protect their financial interests. The story behind this campaign of lies is astounding.

Try a little experiment: talk to several people about global warming. Just bring it up in the conversation, and watch their reaction. I did, and I found that most people laughed, or said, "Yeah, but I heard there's no conclusive evidence to support that." This is the direct effect of the fossil fuel industry's PR campaign. Gelbspan describes how they have done this largely through industry-created groups with misleading names (such as the "Information Council on the Environment"), and pseudo-scientists paid by the industry (such as Pat Michaels, Robert Balling, and Dr. Fred Singer).

Gelbspan explains that the industry's groups and scientists have received a great deal of media coverage because journalists, as part of their duty, are compelled to cover both sides of the story. The problem is that the "other side of the story" in this case is a small group who is paid by the industry. The confusion and lies promoted by the fossil fuel industry has been enough to drown out the 2,500 climate scientists around the world who all agree that global warming is a fact.

"The Heat is On" offers irrefutable facts to debunk the myth that global warming evidence is inconclusive. For example, many people claim that recent extreme colde and winter weather refutes the theory. Wrong, says Gelbspan: "severe winter weather perfectly consistent with global warming. One effect of climate change is to produce more extreme local temperatures--leading to hotter hots, unseasonal colds, and more severe snowstorms." And temperature changes are just the beginning of the problem. Other effects include outbreaks of disease, proliferation of pests, and extinction of species, among others.

The only solution is to cut back on carbon dioxide emissions, probably as much as 60%. This is no easy task, but Gelbspan does offer a plausible "prescription". He suggests that we (1) divert all fossil fuels subsidies ($20 billion/year!) to renewable energy development, (2) implement efficiency standards to require generating facilities to be highly efficient (instead of the current 35% efficiency average), and (3) support developing nations in the conversion with an international currency transaction tax.

This is a very powerful book. Hopefully it will help to re-educate the public, and serve as a model for global change. I strongly recommend it.

Coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are dying because of rising water temperatures. Butterflies are migrating northward. Antarctica is melting. Northern hemisphere forests are being decimated by climate-related fires and insect infestations. The Great Plains states are becoming deserts, as are areas of Southern Europe. Tropical diseases such as malaria and West Nile fever are spreading northwards as temperatures rise.

These are all facts that are incontestably documented by science today, and each of them is directly linked to the climate change brought about by global warming. The earth and its species are in for a tough time in the century ahead. Extreme weather patterns caused by the heating up of the planet is already creating climatic chaos: horrible downpours and snow in some areas, rising temperatures and drought in others, hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, and so on. And for the most part it's been caused by the incredibly high rate of fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions--6 billion tons (and counting) a year.

Ross Gelspan argues that the science is clear; most of the world's leading scientists agree that fossil fuels are causing the problem. The rub is that the oil and coal industries--at $10 trillion, the largest in human history--have an obvious vested interest in convincing the public and lawmakers that global warming is all Chicken Little stuff. So they fund a handful of dissenting scientists who, like tobacco industry scientists a few years ago, are in the business of convincing the public that global warming is a myth. Conservative lawmakers have been particularly receptive to their line, and this in turn has affected public policy for the worse.

Gelbspan's book is horrifying in its diagnosis of global warming and the extent to which the fossil fuel industry has protected its own interests at the expense of the planet's. But the book also makes clear that the technology to replace the world's use of fossil fuels already exists, and concludes with a plan of action for weaning ourselves from our oil addictions.

Make no mistake about it, however: things will get worse, and perhaps much worse, before they get better. We're only beginning to feel the effects of carbon dioxide emissions from 50 years ago. We've yet to feel the whammy from our current frenzied use. When we do, God help us.