Stick Fighting: Techniques of Self-Defense (Bushido--The Way of the Warrior) Review

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(More customer reviews)Although most reviewers rated this book highly, a few panned it. With one or two of those reviews, I wonder if they're even talking about the same book. Crazy ninjas? Martial fetishism? I just don't see that here.
To answer a few of the more intelligible criticisms:
The low stances pictured in this book will not necessarily get you killed or "at least whomped" in a fight. If you're even a beginner in a style that uses low stances, you can use the moves presented here. Of course, if you try these stances for the first time having only seen them in a book, you'll probably do them wrong. Well, no kidding!
Some anonymous wit here remarked that you only need such fancy techniques if you "forget how to swing a bat"-- as if wielding a stick against an unarmed person is an automatic win. This attitude will get you killed faster than any karate stance. I am a small guy of not even intermediate skill, and I've taken bats away from far larger persons who were trying to knock my head into the bleachers! If I can do it, so can some street punk who's trying to put your lights out. This book shows exactly what to do when someone grabs you or your stick and tries to turn the tables on you.
Others accuse the authors of assuming your attacker will be unarmed and won't fight back. I can only say these critics didn't read this book. The authors are very clear on these points.
As for the complexity of some of the locks and takedowns, the authors state that you cannot always deploy these when you want to, and that in the meantime you should defend yourself with basic moves. They also stress that one technique will not always (if ever) be enough to end the fight. They emphasize that the complex techniques must be executed quickly and forcefully. This takes practice. You are not supposed to just flip through a martial arts book and go try this stuff on the streets.
Gee, no kidding!
Even if you never practice the advanced techniques presented here, they are interesting. And the basic techniques are, well, basic. I say buy this book, and to its detractors, I say read this book! And pay attention this time!

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Step-by-step instructions and over 300 photographs allow the trainee to follow and learn the techniques with ease. The ideal weapon for self-defense is a stick. To find a comprehensive system of techniques using the stick, we must turn to the East, for systems known to the West have fallen into disuse. In this book, the techniques of Kukishin Ryu-an ancient Japanese method-have been updated and adapted for use today. A thorough grounding in the fundamentals dealt with here will enable you to disarm and control any assailant. CONTENTS Section 1: Basic MovementsSection 2: Techniques against First Attack Section 3: Techniques against Foot Attacks Section 4: Techniques against Wrist Holding Section 5: Techniques against Sleeve and Lapel Holding Section 6: Techniques against Seizure from Behind Section 7: Techniques against Stick Holding Section 8: Immobilizations

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Anamorphosis in Early Modern Literature (Literary and Scientific Cultures of Early Modernity) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a review based on a scan read since the book does not look to be impressive scholarship.
There is no real description of anamorphosis and no illustrations to support a notion that the author understands it well.
The illustrations are poor. They look as if they have been lifted from the web at low resolution and enlarged. They are all pixellated to an extent that in many cases interpretion is impossible.
The author and publisher should be ashamed to present this especially as it is a relatively thin book and expensive.
The writing and/or editing is poor:
Niceron is said to be a Jesuit when he was a Minim, a totally different order. Anyone who had studied the literature would see this reference all the time.
The execution of Charles I is given as February 1649, when it was 30 January.

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"Anamorphosis in Early Modern Literature" explores the prevalence of anamorphic perspective in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in England. Jen Boyle investigates how anamorphic media flourished in early modern England as an interactive technology and mode of affect in public interactive art, city and garden design, and as a theory and figure in literature, political theory and natural and experimental philosophy. Anamorphic mediation, Boyle brings to light, provided Milton, Margaret Cavendish, and Daniel Defoe, among others, with a powerful techno-imaginary for traversing through projective, virtual experience. Drawing on extensive archival research related to the genre of 'practical perspective' in early modern Europe, Boyle offers a scholarly consideration of anamorphic perspective (its technical means, performances, and embodied practices) as an interactive aesthetics and cultural imaginary. Ultimately, Boyle demonstrates how perspective media inflected a diverse set of knowledges and performances related to embodiment, affect, and collective consciousness.

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Piano for the Young Beginner: Primer A (Bastien Piano Basics) Review

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(More customer reviews)I use this method exclusively for my younger students ages 5 & 6. The children love the songs because they are easy to play, recognizable, while some are original and they can also sing along while they play. The method also helps develop a child's ability to read and write music. I would strongly recommend buying the accompanying books because they can be very helpful to the learning process.


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The Bastien Piano Basics method is comprised of five completely correlated course books — PIANO, THEORY, PERFORMANCE, TECHNIC, and A LINE A DAY SIGHT READING. Bastien Piano Basics uses a gradual multi-key approach, with reading beginning in the C five-finger position. Five levels of carefully graded lesson material provide constant opportunities for reinforcing basic concepts. It's the smoothest, most heart-warming, most entertaining, most musical way to teach eager youngsters the joys of playing the piano. And comprehensive, page-by-page correlation makes Bastien Piano Basics remarkably easy to teach!

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Dr. Nicholas Romanov's Pose Method of Running Review

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(More customer reviews)Okay, this review will be a little... different. I have a LOT of criticisms against this book, and I will mention them first.
CONs.
1. PRICE. I bet you're all complaining about this ridiculous price, and even after purchasing this book, I still cringe knowing how much I paid for it. Oh, sure, it's worth it (else I wouldn't have given it five stars), but it's just a book, for heaven's sake! I mean, the price is in the range of coffeetable collector-type hardcover books with great pictures. Perhaps the Pose people shouldn't self-publish -- maybe they should get a publisher so that this book will be more in the $14.95 range. Then again, going to a Pose clinic is tons more expensive, but still... it's a high price (and none of that usual "20% off from Amazon" type of discount, too!)
2. OVERLY VERBOSE. Some people say it's "chatty"... well, as chatty as an American can get with a Russian scientist (haha!, sorry, Dr. R!). Then again, Dr. Romanov IS a Russian SCIENTIST, and a running sports scientist at that. But this book is overly verbose. It's about 300 pages. If someone were to make a Cliff's Notes version, the handbook could be condensed to probably about 25 pages or so. But you didn't order a Cliff's Notes version. And yet, I think that a good condensation of this book (not a mere distillation of ideas), and if Dr. Romanov were American or a native English speaker/writer, I think this book could have been done in 200 pages or less. For instance, the first few chapters are trying to convince you that the Pose Method is THE best method of running. Hey, I already bought the book, so could we get on with the details?
But when I say overly verbose, if you think this review is already lengthy, try chatting it up with Dr. Romanov. Go to his website, and see his video segments there that expound on the little details -- and you'll see that even in his videos which are about 3 minutes, someone else could have probably done it in under 2 minutes. Is it because he's Russian and still translating in his head? Could be.
Overly verbose: there's just too much detail that sometimes it gets boring to read, that it detracts from the original idea. However, I'll take that anytime over lacking detail. It's just that it could have been more CONCISE, and still convey Dr. Romanov's ideas completely.
3. PICTURES. There are almost no PICTURES, but there are lots of ILLUSTRATIONS. This is a minor complaint, as the illustrations have a lot of detail and are anatomically correct, but, in this reviewer's opinion, more pictures could have been added (but I guess you could buy the companion DVD, but look at the price on that thing! ... that said, I'll probably order it anyway).
Okay, that was a lot of CONs. Now the PROs: Well, there's only one:
THIS BOOK TEACHES YOU HOW TO RUN CORRECTLY.
I am a firm believer in the Pose method. And guess what? What I spent buying this book, I save on SHOES!!! I now go for racing flats (normally half the price of those ultra-cushioning-structured-high tech shoes). It was a bit hard transitioning to the POSE method, and after my calves were in knots after just a few kilometers (heh! metric system, fellas, METRIC system! haha!), I thought "Man, this Pose method has to make my muscles re-learn how to run... OR, there must be something wrong with what I'm doing." True enough, it was the latter -- I was still pushing off (propulsive action) rather than just free-falling (confused about the terminology? get the book and you'll see what that's all about). I still have to master the Pose method, and running still gets my calves to ache (note to self: don't focus on the landing, focus on the pulling off the ground).
Do read the other reviews here. By and large, they have positive things to say about the Pose method, and this review has been overly verbose as it is (must be contagious). And yet, with this one PRO, it makes up for all the CONs, and this book gets the five stars it deserves.
Do note, my criticisms are not against the POSE method, but on the book (price, length, pics). Too bad there aren't any Pose clinics/seminars yet in my country!
So, here ends the review, and hope you found it useful. Despite the price, I urge everyone to get the book.

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Dr. Romanov's Pose Method Of Running brings his revolutionary ideas that changed the world of running to the professional athlete and amateur alike. In a very succinct and enjoyable manner, it teaches one to perform to the very best of his ability, using the Pose running technique. In ballet, or martial arts, one requires practice of technique. The same is true of running. Unless you are one of the lucky ones, like Haile Gebrselassie, Steve Prefontaine, or Michael Johnson, who were born with the perfect technique, you have to learn it. Until Dr Romanov's discovery there was no coherent theory on the subject. Running was practiced, but not taught as a skill. The Pose Method proposes to teach running as a skill with its own theory, concepts, and exercises. Like any brilliant idea, the idea behind the Pose Method is simple. Every movement is built on an infinite number of poses, or positions, through which the body goes in space and time. In running, Dr. Romanov focuses on only one pose, which he calls the Running Pose. It is a whole body position, with vertically aligned shoulders, hips and ankles that creates an S-like shape of the body. The runner then changes the pose from one leg to the other allowing gravity to draw him forward. This creates forward movement, with the least energy cost, and the least effort. The end result is faster race times, easier running and no more injuries! Many have been asking for this book and are awaiting it eagerly. USA and British Triathlon teams have been working with Dr. Romanov with great success. Scientific research on the Pose Method effects on runners was conducted at the USA Olympic Training Center (Colorado Springs) in 1997, at Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL) in 1998-2001, at Sheffield Hallam University (Great Britain) in 2001, at Kubansky State University (Krasnodar, Russia) in 2002, and at Cape Town University (South Africa) in 2002 with Tim Noakes, author of the Lore Of Running, the runner,s bible. The results of the last research are very impressive. The load on knee joints is reduced 30%, the incidence of other injuries is drastically diminished. The method allows the athletes to run easier, faster, longer, and most significantly, injury free.

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Jacques Pépin's Complete Techniques Review

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(More customer reviews)`Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques' may be one of the landmark works signaling the beginning of the Renaissance of American culinary practice. This volume, published in 2001, is an omnibus of two earlier works, `La Technique' published in 1976 and `La Methode' published in 1979, just as Pepin was changing his career from leading French chef to culinary writer and educator. These will probably always stand as his most important books.
The book in English that is most similar to this is James Peterson's `Essentials of Cooking'. This newer volume is an excellent book with color photographs and coverage of subjects which is probably pretty complete for the average culinary amateur. Pepin's work is in an entirely different class, aimed at the professional and, by extension, the foodie wannabe professional.
In Peterson's book, the first chapter, `Basics', covers twenty-four (24) topics. In his first chapter of the same name, Pepin covers seventy (70) subjects. Even allowing for the fact that Pepin includes nine (9) egg topics in Basics that Peterson puts in a later chapter, this is an impressive margin of coverage from Pepin. Pepin's topics tend to be somewhat more basic and focus heavily on knife skills, even including a section on how to sharpen knives. Even though these topics are simple, Pepin gives each technique all the attention it needs. One of the clearest examples of Pepin's great attention to detail is in his treatment of my favorite subject for evaluating one's culinary writing. This is how to make a classic French omelet. As I noted in my review of Peterson's book, Chef James is just a bit short on some important details. Pepin not only covers all the bases, but also adds a few tips to omelet making technique that I have not seen elsewhere. The only warning I give about his technique is that since it was written before non-stick surfaces on saute pans were perfected and available on high-end cookware, the author does not recommend them. All recent descriptions of omelet making strongly recommend non-stick pans for all egg cookery.
The chapter on Fish and Shellfish continues Pepin's emphasis on basics, including several topics for which the average amateur chef may never have a use, such as methods for handling sea urchins, frogs legs, salmon in aspic, and pate of fish. Conversely, I am surprised to find no section on the `en papillote' cooking method that Peterson covers in detail. Other Peterson topics on which Pepin passes are methods for squid and preparing salmon steaks. The differences in coverage in this chapter alone make it worth one's while to own both books.
The chapter on vegetables is a real wealth of techniques for making really cheap ingredients into impressive presentations. You can dream about poaching or smoking whole Scottish line-caught salmon, but you can easily afford to do one of the eleven (11) different techniques Pepin describes for potatoes. In fact, this is probably some of the most dramatic evidence of the French obsession with food preparation. When I think of Irish potato preparations, I think of boiled potatoes, champ, and colcannon. In this chapter, the French have eight (8) different ways of just cutting potatoes, let alone all the methods used to fry, gratin, roast, boil, and saute potatoes in the French lexicon.
Pepin uncharacteristically combines poultry and meat into one chapter, but this is incidental. Pepin and Peterson cover a roughly equal number of chicken subjects, with Pepin covering some more typically French subjects such as glazing and sausage making. On cutting up a chicken, I give extra points to Peterson for the efficacy of his color pictures detailing his technique. Pepin very usefully separates all his carving techniques into a separate chapter that covers fish, birds, and beasts.
In the next chapter on `Breads', Pepin covers a topic that Peterson simply does not even touch. Pepin points out that bread making is one of those activities which involves a few simple ingredients, but a highly sophisticated technique. Like making a good omelet, it's all in knowing how. Having made a fairly wide variety of loaves of bread in my time, I would not recommend Pepin's book as the best introduction to breadmaking. His book is all about technique. It gives practically no understanding of why you do each of the steps in a particular way. And, his basic breadmaking technique is a little different from any other I have seen. On the positive side, I would strongly recommend anyone attempting to make baguettes to check out Pepin's description, as it is the only place I have seen pictures of classic baguette making equipment in use.
The real jewel in this book is the last chapter on `Pastry and Dessert'. This is the first indication I had of Pepin's skill as a pastry chef in addition to his great reputation as a savory chef. This by far the longest chapter in the book and has the greatest potential to adding a bit of `wow' to one's entertaining. One of the more important gems hidden in this chapter is Pepin's technique for making crepes in the section on Crepes Suzettes. I have successfully made crepes using Julia Child's recipe for years, yet Pepin's pictures and comments succeed in adding to my knowledge of the technique. For the supreme `wow' effect, check out the technique for the Christmas Yule Log (Buche de Noel). Another major topic absent from Peterson's book you will find here is the method for soufflé. In spite of all these flash dishes, the chapter still concentrates on a lot of very basic building block techniques such as recipes for custards, creams, meringues, toasts, galettes, caramel, brittle, and chocolate leaves.
If you are an aspiring professional or serious foodie, Pepin's book is probably the most important book you can have in your kitchen. It covers twice the material of Peterson's book with greater authority and fewer lapses. If you are an amateur who enjoys cooking, get both. Highly recommended.

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The fully illustrated bible of cooking techniques from the world's best-known French cook is now in paperback and in one volume for the first time ever.From a master chef and the current co-star (with Julia Child) of the hit television series "Cooking at Home" comes everything the home cook needs to perfect his or her kitchen skills--assisted by instructive, step-by-step photography. Learn to de-bone a chicken, poach an egg, whisk a perfect bearnaise, knead a tangy sourdough, or bake an exquisite meringue with the perfection and efficiency of a professional chef. Pépin's toothsome and time-tested recipes offer budding chefs the opportunity to put lessons into practice with extraordinary results. This comprehensive, authoritative presentation of cooking technique and practice is sure to become an indispensable part of every home cook's library.

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Earth, Air, Fire & Water: More Techniques of Natural Magic (Llewellyn's Practical Magick Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is among my favorites in my Pagan library. I have had it since it was published and have over the years bought several copies. It's either been referred to so much it's fallen apart or has been borrowed and never returned. The brilliance of Scott's teachings are that he teaches only what's worked for him but he gives permission to you as Practitioner to evolve into your own Witch - you can tweak the spells so that they work for you and he applauds that and suggests that you do just exactly that. I have always had nothing but respect for the man and his writing - and am sad that he's no longer in this world to write more and share more of his wisdom.
This is a great book to give to a new witch, one who is just starting out on their path and also for those who're perhaps more jaded and have been on their path for decades and maybe needing a reminder as to why they stepped onto this way in the first place - there's inspiration in these pages.
Also, the illustrations by Robin Wood make me want a coloring book of those pictures as well!! Stunning work all around!

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"A treasure trove of practical magic for both novices and more experienced practitioners . . . beautifully crafted spells that invoke the alchemy of possibility."—PanGaia

A leaf from an oak tree . . . a wildflower . . . water from a sparkling stream . . . dirt from a cool dark cave—these are the age-old tools of natural magic. Born of the earth, possessing inherent power, they await only our touch and intention to bring their magical qualities to life.

The four elements are powerful magical tools. Using their energies, we can transform ourselves, our lives, and our world. This much-loved, classic guide offers more than seventy-five spells, rites, and simple rituals you can perform using the marvelous powers of the natural world. Scott Cunningham was a greatly respected teacher and one of the most influential members of the modern Craft movement. A practitioner of elemental magic for twenty years, he wrote more than fifty books, including the seminal Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner.

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Le Cordon Bleu Dessert Techniques: More Than 1,000 Photographs Illustrating 300 Preparation And Cooking Techniques For Making Tarts, Pi Review

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(More customer reviews)Due to "A Customer"'s review, I tracked down Ultimate Cakes. A few pictures are similar, but are not the same. Bogus reviews don't help! If anyone knows of a better ILLUSTRATED book of techniques, please post. This is inspiring for visual learners. I haven't found a better illustrated dessert techniques book.

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For the first time, the chefs and instructors of the world-renowned Le Cordon Bleu cooking schools have written a cookbook that will teach anyone, from novices with a sweet tooth to expert bakers, how to prepare beautiful and delicious desserts at home. Hundreds of techniques are explained in step-by-step detail, with more than one thousand color photographs illustrating the experts methods for success.Even if you've never made a sugar syrup or rolled out a piecrust before, this is the book for you. The simplest of techniques, typically left out of most cookbooks, are covered in the greatest detail. When you've mastered the basics, Le Cordon Bleu Dessert Techniques will challenge you to make increasingly difficult recipes on your way to preparing dazzling desserts. For example, upon mastering the basics of grating, chopping, melting, tempering and piping choclate, you'll want to try your hand at creating choclate ribbons and culs, marbleized chocolate slabs, and lacy chocolate cups for truly spectacular presentation. Once you've reviewed the techniquws for baking perfect cake layers, you'll be reday to creat a Chocolate Chestnut Roulade or the classic and decadent Sachertorte.After learning from the experts, you'll be piping meringue, whipping up chocolate mousse, and preparing Pots de Creme with ease before you know it.

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Still Life in Real Time: Theory After Television (Post-Contemporary Interventions) Review

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(More customer reviews)Television Studies is now booming institutionally if not intellectually. The banality of many of the cloned analyses of particular shows or the remedial narrative accounts of available approaches to television texts has unwittingly contributed to the naturalization of the technology itself. This text is the antidote. Dienst's book provides a series of fresh, beautifully written re-readings of the work of key thinkers (including Marx, Heidegger, Raymond Williams, Deleuze, and Derrida) in terms of television theory. His re-examination of Marx's theory of value "after television" shows us the continuing explanatory power of Capital and Grundrisse. Never reductive and always stimulating, this book offers more starting points for critical students of television than any recent text. What is more, this is "theory" at its best, opening up new ways of thinking about the ownership, value and significations in contemporary culture. This is a "breakthrough" book -- read it!

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Television can be imagined in a number of ways: as a profuse flow of images, as a machine that produces new social relationships, as the last lingering gasp of Western metaphysical thinking, as a stuttering relay system of almost anonymous messages, as a fantastic construction of time.Richard Dienst engages each of these possibilities as he explores the challenge television has posed for contemporary theories of culture, technology, and media.Five theoretical projects provide Still Life in Real Time with its framework: the cultural studies tradition of Raymond Williams; Marxist political economy; Heideggerian existentialism; Derridean deconstruction; and a Deleuzian anatomy of images. Drawing lessons from television programs like Twin Peaks and Crime Story, television events like the Gulf War, and television personalities like Madonna, Dienst produces a remarkable range of insights on the character of the medium and on the theories that have been affected by it.From the earliest theorists who viewed television as a new metaphor for a global whole, a liberal technology empty of ideological or any other content, through those who saw it as a tool for consumption, making time a commodity, to those who sense television's threat to being and its intimate relation to power, Dienst exposes the rich pattern of television's influence on philosophy, and hence on the deepest levels of contemporary experience.A book of theory, Still Life in Real Time will compel the attention of all those with an interest in the nature of the ever present, ever shifting medium and its role in the thinking that marks our time.

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GIS, Organisations and People: A Socio-technical Approach (GIS for Beginners) Review

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(More customer reviews)The respect and the participation of the users, as well as taking into account their context, are essential to the implementation of adequate Geomatics Solutions. This book guides us through these pathways underestimated by several.Orlando RODRIGUEZ
Centre de recherche en géomatique
Université Laval


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GIS projects have previously been viewed primarily as technical exercises, but it is now evident that the success of GIS projects depends as much on organisational issues as upon technicalities. GIS projects have profound socio-organisational contexts which must be taken into account if such projects are to succeed. The books presents an overview of the `human' side of GIS, both individual and organisational.GIS Organisations and People draws on material from the fields of mainstream business administration and information systems and builds a picture of how important they can be to GIS development and describes the implementation strategies which will allow their introduction. This unique textbook will meet the needs of an introductory module on the human aspects of GIS at advanced undergraduate and Master's level. It will equally be suitable for GIS professionals whose technical knowledge may be considerably greater than their appreciation of organisational strategic concerns.Key Features:* This introductory guide fully explains the importance of organisational issues in promoting successful GIS projects* A full glossary of specialist terms and a `self-check' questions round-up at the end of each chapter help develop the reader's comprehension

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Techniques of the Selling Writer Review

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(More customer reviews)Although Swain's book was originally published in 1965, there's a very good reason why it's still in print. The information he presents is solid, useful and timeless.
The book has 10 chapters. The first, Fiction and You, tells what the writer needs to know and gives common traps writers fall into. Then he discusses things like rules and the creative act of writing. His style is terse and sentences are short. That makes it easy to find specific information when you go back later to look for it.
In the second chapter he gets down to serious business -- words. How to find them, how to use them and make them clear and concise. The third chapter is all about feelings and how to use them. In the fourth he goes into the necessity for conflict, what to do and not to do in building it. Chapter Five presents the strategies of fiction. "Fiction..." he writes, "creates an especially vivid vicarious tension...Your job as a writer is to control and manipulate this tension." He also delineates the source of story satisfaction and describes how to produce it.
Chapter 6 is all about getting a story started, lining up story elements, developing the middle of the story and winding it up. Story people and the importance of characters and character development are covered in Chapter 7. Planning the story, recognizing good story material, preparing to write, and what you need in order to succeed as a writer wind up the last few chapters. He devotes one page to marketing advice and that simply directs the reader to study the markets.
This is, without a doubt, one of the most useful and easiest to use books on the craft of writing that has ever been published. Its advice is timeless. This book should be in every writer's collection.

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This book provides solid instruction for persons who want to write and sell fiction, not just to talk and study about it. It gives the background, insights, and specific procedures needed by all beginning writers. Here one can learn how to group words into copy that moves, movement into scenes, and scenes into stories; how to develop characters, how to revise and polish, and finally, how to sell the product.
This is the book for writers who want to turn rejection slips into cashable checks.

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Speed Secrets: Professional Race Driving Techniques Review

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(More customer reviews)I've done AutoX and road racing for some years and recently started as an instructor for racing drivers license courses. I have bought and read about ten books on motor racing technique. This one, written by Ross Bentley, was one of the best. Where Skip Barbers (although excellent) book is very theoretic and quite technical in it's approach, with diagrams and figures, Ross Bentley writes modestly and concisely about the "softer" sides of racing, for example about mental training, feeling the car and how drivers psychology works.
Many of the secrets are blatantly obvious when you see them in print and read his motivations, but to race successfully you need to remind yourself all the time. This book is perfect for that. The suggestions on how to hone your race driving skills in your everyday street car (without ever violating traffic laws i must add) is worth the price of the book alone. If you must buy only two books on racing, combine Ross Betleys Speed Secrets with Barbers book and you get most of the picture. Highly recommended!

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Shave lap times or find a faster line through your favorite set of S-curves with professional race driver Ross Bentley as he shows you the quickest line from apex to apex! With tips and commentary from current race drivers, Bentley covers the vital techniques of speed, from visualizing lines to interpreting tire temps to put you in front of the pack. Includes discussion of practice techniques, chassis set-up, and working with your pit chief.

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Portrait Painting Atelier: Old Master Techniques and Contemporary Applications Review

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(More customer reviews)This book contains some valuable information and tips on this difficult topic. The skin tone colour mixing part is especially helpful, and the illustrations are informative and high quality. I really like the way it goes into detail on different elements of the face, on application of paint and on toned grounds. Nevertheless, this book suffers from the same problem as all of them do. The step by step demonstrations are all made by the author/artist himself. This results in a lot of demonstrations basically using the same approach in different variations. I would really like to see a book of this kind with demonstrations by different artists, displaying different approaches and techniques! If you are very interested in glazing techniques, this should really satisfy you, since all the demonstrations involve a lot of glazing. That beeing said, the book actually includes a mini-demonstration by another artist with a different approach.
All in all a great book for the intermediate painter who wants to learn more about depicting the human form.

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The art of portraiture approached its apex during the sixteenth century in Europe with the discovery of oil painting when the old masters developed and refined techniques that remain unsurpassed to this day. The ascendance of nonrepresentational art in the middle of the twentieth century displaced these venerable skills, especially in academic art circles. Fortunately for aspiring artists today who wish to learn the methods that allowed the Old Masters to achieve the luminous color and subtle tonalities so characteristic of their work, this knowledge has been preserved in hundreds of small traditional painting ateliers that persevered in the old ways in this country and throughout the world.Coming out of this dedicated movement, Portrait Painting Atelier is an essential resource for an art community still recovering from a time when solid instruction in art technique was unavailable in our schools. Of particular value here is a demonstration of the Old Masters' technique of layering paint over a toned-ground surface, a process that builds from the transparent dark areas to the more densely painted lights. This method unifies the entire painting, creating a beautiful glow that illuminates skin tones and softly blends all the color tones. Readers will also find valuable instruction in paint mediums from classic oil-based to alkyd-based, the interactive principles of composition and photograph-based composition, and the anatomy of the human face and the key relationships among its features. Richly illustrated with the work of preeminent masters such as Millet, Géricault, and van Gogh, as well as some of today's leading portrait artists—and featuring seven detailed step-by-step portrait demonstrations—Portrait Painting Atelier is the first book in many years to so comprehensively cover the concepts and techniques of traditional portraiture.

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LEGO Mindstorms Mechatronics : Using Systems and Controls to Build Sophisticed Robots Review

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(More customer reviews)There is some useful information in this book, but getting it out is like cracking walnuts. The book is terribly written, maybe the 2nd worst book I've read. There are some gross typos, left out parts of sentences, wrong diagrams, multiple un- or poorly-defined terms and abbreviations. The writing style is dreadful. I find myself re-reading some paragraphs several times to figure out what he's saying. Other paragraphs could be skipped altogether as he relys too literally on the advice "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them." That may be fine in an oral presentation. In writing it's redundant and annoying. Just tell me and tell me well. Skip the overture and encore. Nevertheless, I'm buying the companion prequel "Mindstorms Interfacing" because this book references that one a lot. Many of the web references are no longer active. Some of the free software referenced is no longer available online, but FORTUNATELY some is on the enclosed CD-ROM. A few nuggets of gold may be worth digging through tons of rock to find. I'm not sure yet whether this book will be worth the dig, I'm only 1/4 throught it.


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This title is the perfect tutorial for learning the mechanical, software, and electronic systems of LEGO Mindstorms and other hybrid robots. It focuses on "hot technology" topics: electronics, embedded systems, object-oriented technology, software development, and robotics. It includes projects for each concept, including a LEGO camera for the remote control vision chapter, an interface for a robotic warning system, and a tele-operated robot. The CD includes: complete computer programs for controlling the robots; circuit simulation models; and diagnostic tools.

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Data Modeling Master Class Training Manual 2nd Edition: Steve Hoberman's Best Practices Approach to Understanding and Applying Fundamentals Through Advanced Modeling Techniques Review

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(More customer reviews)This Master Class captures in one place much of the innovative stuff that Steve Hoberman has brought to the field of data modeling. It provides a great foundation to become a truly skilled data modeler. You can also follow Steve's continuing advances in the field as well as his design challenges at [...].

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This is the second edition of the training manual for the Data Modeling Master Class that Steve Hoberman teaches onsite and through public classes. This text can be purchased prior to attending the Master Class, the latest course schedule and detailed description can be found on Steve Hoberman's website, stevehoberman.com.
The Master Class is a complete course on requirements gathering and data modeling, containing four days of practical techniques for producing solid relational and dimensional data models. After learning the styles and steps in gathering and modeling requirements, you will apply a best practices approach to building and validating data models through the Data Model ScorecardÂ. You will learn not just how to build a data model, but also how to build a data model well. Challenging exercises and workshops will reinforce the material and enable you to apply these techniques in your current projects.
By the end of the course, you will know how to…
Read a data model of any size and complexity
Validate any data model with the Data Model ScorecardÂ
Build relational and dimensional subject area, logical, and physical data models
Use abstraction
Gather requirements
Leverage a series of templates for capturing requirements
Write clear, complete, and correct definitions
Explain the critical factors that must be in place for a successful enterprise data model
Topics
Part 1: Modeling Basics. We will explain data modeling concepts and terminology. We will also explore each component on a data model and practice reading business rules.
Part 2: Overview to the Data Model ScorecardÂ. The Scorecard is a set of ten categories for validating a data model. We will explore best practices from the perspectives of both the modeler and reviewer, and you will be provided with a template to use on your current projects.
Part 3: Understanding subject area, logical, and physical data models. The subject area model captures a business need within a well-defined scope; the logical data model captures an application-independent business solution; and the physical data model captures the technical solution by focusing on factors such as performance and security. Each of these models will be explained in detail in this section.
Part 4: Ensuring the model captures the requirements. We will focus on techniques such as the use of spreadsheets and business assertions to ensure the data model meets the business requirements.
Part 5: Validating model scope. We will focus on techniques for validating that the scope of the requirements matches the scope of the model. If the scope of the model is greater than the requirements, we have a situation known as scope creep. If the model scope is less than the requirements, we will be leaving information out of the resulting application.
Part 6: Following acceptable modeling principles. We will focus on techniques for building sound designs.
Part 7: Determining the optimal use of generic concepts. We will focus on techniques for capturing the ideal use of generic concepts such as
Party and Event.
Part 8: Applying consistent naming standards. We will focus on techniques for applying correct and consistent naming standards.
Part 9: Arranging the model for maximum understanding. We will focus on techniques for arranging the entities, data elements, and relationships to maximize readability.
Part 10: Writing clear, correct, and consistent definitions. We will focus on techniques for writing useable definitions.
Part 11: Matching the model with the enterprise. We will focus on techniques for ensuring the model complements the big picture.
Part 12: Comparing the metadata with the data. We will focus on techniques for confirming the data elements and their rules match reality.

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Extreme NXT: Extending the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT to the Next Level (Technology in Action) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book to get a better idea of how to safely interface my own circuits to the Lego Mindstorms NXT. In my opinion, you can't find a better book for this purpose. "Extreme NXT" contains the pinouts and proper usage of the NXT motor and sensor ports. It also provides a large number of the most useful homebrew sensor implementations, right down to parts lists containing part numbers for common component suppliers like Digikey and Radio Shack.
My background is in engineering, with an emphasis in control systems. The first book I read in the field of hobbiest robotics was "Mobile Robots: Inspiration to Implementation" (Jones and Flynn). In those days, the 6811's were king for these sorts of projects. I spent many a happy day with my MIT Handyboard (a simple 6811 robot controller board). Things have come a long way. Nowadays NXT is available, and this book is the modern day equivalent to that excellent text for those who want to dig in and find out what the NXT is capable of. The book is written in a format that is easy to understand for the novice, but also supplies plenty of content to allow the more advanced user to be able to push the NXT envelope. The organization is superb, commonly used charts and tables are easily found. I have been finding myself referring most often to the pinout tables for the NXT connectors, and these are very conveniently found towards the front of the book.
Chapters are broke down into sensor and output types, starting with the more basic and easily contructed passive sensors up to more advanced and expandable I2C sensors. Motor control, h-bridges, etc are also covered in detail. Both the construction of the circuits, and the NXT code to run them, are covered. Code is provided in it's most basic form first, NXT-G, which every NXT user will be familiar with. Examples proceed to more complex compilers, such as NBC, for sensors or circuits that are better suited to those implementations.
The appendix provides complete source code listings, useful websites and links categorized by chapter. There is also a great tutorial on prototyping with breadboards and perfboard for the uninitiated. With this book, any skill level in electronics should be enough to do some cool things with the NXT kit.
This book will become a very useful addition to any hobby robotics library. For me, it will be the goto book for designing circuits to safely interface to the Lego NXT. Highly recommended!

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Extreme NXT: Extending the LEGO MIDSTORMS NXT to the Next Level is for intermediate-level users of NXT who would like to advance their capabilities by learning some of the basics of electronics. Plenty of examples are provided, and easy-to-follow instructions are included for building over 15 different sensors.

This makes a great reference for the NXT hardware interfaces. Examples even come complete with multiple, alternative NXT languages. The book is also abundant with illustrations.

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Muscle Energy Techniques with DVD-ROM Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the best book I've come across for introducing a novice to the concepts and practice of MET. Chaitow's other books tend to go into very minute detail about the nervous system component of these techniques. This book is very well ordered and the assessments and techniques don't get lost in the minutae. HIs very clear presentation of the far-reaching effects of dysfunction in one part of the body is excellent. If you are interested in these techniques, this is the book! You can then follow up with his other books on the subject, especially Soft Tissue Manipulations. I'm using this book in a medical massage program in which I am an instructor.

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This comprehensive text describes the basis and practice of Muscle Energy Techniques (MET), a widely recognized approach to treating musculoskeletal dysfunction. It describes those manipulative techniques in which a patient, on request, actively uses his or her muscles from a controlled position in a specific direction against a distinct counterforce applied by the practitioner. These techniques are combined from methods used in physical therapy, osteopathy, chiropractic and manual medicine. A companion DVD-ROM includes video clips demonstrating the application of techniques.
Details the background to soft tissue dysfunction and explains the chain reactions which occur as part of such dysfunctions.
Provides precise assessment and diagnosis guidelines.
Gives many variations on the safe use of MET in acute, chronic, and rehabilitation settings.
Explains the use of MET for whole muscle problems, local dysfunction, and joint restrictions.
Suggests patient self-application methods.
Includes a companion DVD-ROM with video clips of the author demonstrating the techniques.

Additional techniques are added to both text and DVD-ROM videos.
Information is expanded on some of the techniques included in previous edition.
Content is updated throughout, with reference to the latest published research.
Four new chapters cover efficacy and research, MET in a massage therapy setting, MET in treatment of athletic injuries, and MET in physical medicine settings.

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Notes on the Underground: An Essay on Technology, Society, and the Imagination Review

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(More customer reviews)I tried to find a simple and concise description of what the book is about, but I cannot better Rosalind Williams own description at the start of Chapter One. "What are the consequences when human beings dwell in an environment that is predominantly built rather than given? This book seeks to answer that question. It explores the psychological, social and political implications of living in a technological world".
Rosalind Williams has delivered an insightful and extremely readable book. This book could easily have been a dry academic text that did little more than bring together a huge set of disconnected references from the last 150+ years. Instead of this, the author has contructed an engaging narrative that does justice to the extensive research and insightful analysis which flows through the book.
A must for anyone interested in technology and its impact of society and the individual.

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With a new afterword by the author The underground has always played a prominent role in human imaginings, both as a place of refuge and as a source of fear. The late nineteenth century saw a new fascination with the underground as Western societies tried to cope with the pervasive changes of a new social and technological order. In Notes on the Underground, Rosalind Williams takes us inside that critical historical moment, giving equal coverage to actual and imaginary undergrounds. She looks at the real-life invasions of the underground that occurred as modern urban infrastructures of sewers and subways were laid, and at the simultaneous archaeological excavations that were unearthing both human history and the planet's deep past. She also examines the subterranean stories of Verne, Wells, Forster, Hugo, Bulwer-Lytton, and other writers who proposed alternative visions of the coming technological civilization. Williams argues that these imagined and real underground environments provide models of human life in a world dominated by human presence and offer a prophetic look at today's technology-dominated society.In a new afterword written for this edition, Williams points out that her book traces the emergence in the nineteenth century of what we would now call an environmental consciousness--an awareness that there will be consequences when humans live in a sealed, finite environment. Today we are more aware than ever of our limited biosphere and how vulnerable it is. Notes on the Underground, now even more than when it first appeared, offers a guide to the human, cultural, and technical consequences of what Williams calls "the human empire on earth."

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