Mobile Object Systems Towards the Programmable Internet: Second International Workshop, MOS96, Linz, Austria, July 8 - 9, 1996, Selected Presentations and Invited Papers - Foundations, Concepts and Implementations of mobile computin

If the Internet is seen as a single, vast, programmable machine, what is the proper programming paradigm to facilitate development of the new applications it must offer? This state-of-the-art survey deals with this question. The situation we face is similar to that in the 1960s, when a new hardware/software architecture was introduced and it took some time for the programming-language and operating-system specialists to come up with the proper programming paradigms. Now we have the new and exciting paradigm of mobile computing, where computations are not bound to single locations but may move around at will to best use the available computer network resources. This paradigm will have a profound impact on the way distributed applications, in particular Internet applications, are designed and implemented.

Foundations, Concepts and Implementations of mobile computin
obile Object Systems: Abstracts Introduction This book presents a collection of papers dealing with different aspects of mobile computations. Mobile computations are computations that are not bound to single locations, but may move at will to best use the computer network''s resources. In this view, the network becomes a single, vast, programmable environment. Among computer scientists, many feel that this approach will have a profound effect on the way we design and implement distributed applications, and they agree that we are witnessing a paradigm change. However, this new and exciting paradigm requires advances, both theoretical and applied, in fields such as programming languages (where we need a sound semantic foundation and efficient implementations), operating systems and software safety and security. Some of the first steps towards a programmable Internet are documented here. This book follows a particular approach to mobile computation. It emphasizes the synergy between mobility and object-oriented programming, hence the title Mobile Object Systems. Mobile object systems, in our view, are self-contained and autonomous groups of objects. They carry out a computation for an end-user in some initial computational environment and may dynamically change their environment for one that is on a remote computer. There is a close relationship between mobile object systems and research on so-called mobile software agents. In both cases, the focus is software mobility, but we prefer the terms mobile computation and mobile object systems as they are more accurate descriptions of the technology, while mobile agents has a fuzzy meaning that overlaps with artificial intelligence research. The papers in this book are more concerned with problems of software mobility per se. Nevertheless, the terms are quite close and are often used interchangeably even within the present work. The starting point of this book was a number of discussions and presentations given at the second International Workshop on Mobile Object Systems (MOS''96) held in 1996 in conjunction with the European Object Oriented Programming Conference (ECOOP''96) in Linz. The core of the book is made up of reworked versions of the submitted papers. However, we wanted to broaden the scope of this volume and survey a large portion of the research in this rapidly expanding field. We invited a number of researchers to contribute reprints of important papers or to write entirely new pieces. This book is the result. Overview The book is organized in three parts: (I) Foundations, (II) Concepts, and (III) Implementation, followed by an appendix. We detail the content of each part next. Part I of the book contains chapters giving background and motivation for the research on mobile computations. The chapter by Cardelli is a brief introduction to the issues and challenges of mobile computation. It is followed by a reprint of a paper by Tsichritzis, written twelve years ago, which describes many of the features we are looking for in mobile object systems using the animal world as a metaphor for mobile computations. The chapter by Waldo et al.was written in 1994 and convincingly argues against transparency in distributed computing. To some extent it motivates the work on mobile computations, as mobile computations naturally suggest making mobility and location visible to the programmer. The chapter by Chess et al.investigates advantages and disadvantages of mobile computations by looking at their application. The last chapter, by Tschudin, contains a philosophical and philological discussion of messages and instructions. Part II contains descriptions of systems and concepts for mobile computations. The chapter by Cugola et al.analyzes languages that support some form of code mobility, trying to compare them and get at some of the basic principles of those languages. The chapter by Acharya et al.presents Sumatra, a Java based environment for mobile applications. The chapter by Bharat and Cardelli presents Visual Obliq, an implementation of mobile computation based on Obliq. The chapter by Tschudin presents a messenger environment. The chapter by Mira da Silva discusses the relationship between persistence and mobility. The chapter by Vitek et al.considers security for communication between object systems. The chapter by Kato looks further into security issues. The chapter by Ciancarini and Rossi presents an architecture for coordination and communication on wide area networks that can be used between mobile computations or plain Java programs. Part III contains papers detailing implementation considerations and techniques. The chapter by Knabe looks at the trade-offs between different representations of agents and efficiency. In the second chapter, Franz presents a particular representation called Slim Binaries which is particularly well suited to mobile code, as well as a more general dynamic code optimization technique. The chapter by Dugan describes the implementation of mobility of polymorphic data in a strongly typed programming language. Finally, the paper by Dðmel discusses the implementation of a system that allows Java programs to interact with Telescript agents. We would like to thank the program committee of the MOS''96 workshop, Joachim Baumann, Luca Cardelli, Paolo Ciancarini, and Doug Lea, for their help and excellent reviewing. February 1997 J. Vitek and C. Tschudin Geneva and Zurich ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Objectworld D. Tsichritzis An environment is outlined in which programming objects collect and disseminate information, using analogies from the animal world. Objects have their own rules of behaviour. They coordinate their activities by participating in events. Objects get born, move around, communicate and receive information and, eventually, die. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mobile Agents: Are They a Good Idea? David Chess, Colin Harrison, Aaron Kershenbaum Mobile agents are programs, typically written in a script language, which may be dispatched from a client computer and transported to a remote server computer for execution. Several authors have suggested that mobile agents offer an important new method of performing transactions and information retrieval in networks. Other writers have pointed out, however, that mobile agents introduce severe concerns for security. We consider the advantages offered by mobile agents and assess them against alternate methods of achieving the same function. We conclude that, while the individual advantages of agents do not represent an overwhelming motivation for their adoption, the creation of a pervasive agent framework facilitates a very large number of network services and applications. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Note on Distributed Computing Jim Waldo, Geoff Wyant, Ann Wollrath, and Sam Kendall Much of the current work in distributed, object-oriented systems is based on the assumption that objects form a single ontological class. This class consists of all entities that can be fully described by the specification of the set of interfaces supported by the object and the semantics of the operations in those interfaces. The class includes objects that share a single address space, objects that are in separate address spaces on the same machine, and objects that are in separate address spaces on different machines (with, perhaps, different architectures). On the view that all objects are essentially the same kind of entity, these differences in relative location are merely an aspect of the implementation of the object. Indeed, the location of an object may change over time, as an object migrates from one machine to another or the implementation of the object changes. It is the thesis of this note that

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The Ideology of Religious Studies by Timothy Fitzgerald - A must read for religious studies students.

In recent years there has been an intensifying debate within the religious studies community about the validity of religion as an analytical category. In this book Fitzgerald sides with those who argue that the concept of religion itself should be abandoned. On the basis of his own research in India and Japan, and through a detailed analysis of the use of religion in a wide range of scholarly texts, the author maintains that the comparative study of religion is really a form of liberal ecumenical theology. By pretending to be a science, religion significantly distorts socio-cultural analysis. He suggest, however, that religious studies can be re-represented in a way which opens up new and productive theoretical connections with anthropology and cultural and literary studies.

A must read for religious studies students.
Any student of "religion" should take Fitzgerald's argument seriously. In fact, I would go as far as to say that many within the academy now teaching (or rather, preaching) religion should also examine Fitzgerald's work.

I was first exposed to this book late in my undergraduate career in religious studies. For me the theoretical discourse on "religion" had always seemed convoluted, but nevertheless it was a conceptual morass that I believed could be resolved. But--trust me--it can not be, and Fitzgerald cogently explains why.

Instead of elaborating further, I would suggest that anyone at all interested in relgious studies or "religion in general" (or philosophy, imperialism, social control, the modern world, globalization, etc.) to read the first few pages of this book online. I can say without hyperbole that this is one of the most important books I have ever read. My hope in writing this review is that it will inspire others take notice of Fitzgerald's work.

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A Case for Vengeance by J.P. Brennan - Take an Action/Adventure Thrill Ride!

Since the events of 9/11, the name al-Qaeda has become synonymous with terror. The objective of this international guerrilla militant organization seems to be the elimination of foreign influence in Muslim countries, the elimination of Israel, and the eradication and destruction of the U.S. and other countries filled with infidels. Yet the issues surrounding al-Qaeda and our own War on Terror are much more complicated than this simple black-and-white depiction. And, despite the daily news coverage, few of us actually expect to encounter al-Qaeda in our daily lives. A Case for Vengeance is the story of Evan Moore, a young American tourist who innocently snaps a photograph that will catapult him headlong into an al-Qaeda plot so diabolical, it will change the world forever: As the two suited men passed, he aimed his camera at them, said Smile, and took their picture. One of the two saw Moore and his camera, knowing that he had photographed them. The two rushed past, disappeared into the crowd. M

Take an Action/Adventure Thrill Ride!
Evan Moore is just an average guy from Pennsylvania that decides to a vacation in Italy. The most exciting thing that has ever happened to him is just another boring day as a copy clerk. He's basically a quiet and somewhat naive twenty-six year old. Moore enjoys the sights in Rome, but it all changes when he unwittingly takes a digital photograph of two men in suits. He quickly gets thrust into an insidious plot of an al-Qaeda conspiracy where life as he knows it will never be the same.

J.P. Brennan cleverly weaves an exciting storyline with unforgettable characters in "A Case For Vengeance". The story grips you from the first page with intense intrigue and mounting fear. Brennan describes foreign locales and gritty adversaries with sharp clarity. There are only a few quiet moments to let you catch your breath, but it is quickly averted with surprises to continue on with this adventure. "A Case For Vengeance" is a live action suspense read and anyone who loves terrorist thrillers will enjoy this book. I highly recommend this book to avid thriller readers. I hope to read more from this writer in the near future.

-Jennifer Chase, author of thriller "Compulsion"

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The Iron Heel by Jack London - gripping

A story of world revolution set in early 20th century America.

gripping
One part socialist dogma, one part muckraking expose and one part thrilling drama, The Iron Heel was and is dynamite. Much is made of London's predictions about fascism, and the book does seem to predict the actions of the Nazi's in the Reichstag fire affair, but in truth, the notion of fascism as the successor to liberal capitalism is a standard Marxist historical analysis. Nevertheless, the book is brilliant, and very well written. It is easy reading and a book you won't want to put down. I read it in a day. It is as relevant now as ever, in spite of its age, and the only fault you might ascribe is London's failure to predict the rise and power of the mass media. Sure, the Iron Heel of our day are not built on rails, but on oil, but this is only a minor error of timing. The capitalists have in fact frozen the market in an attempt to retain their market dominance, they have simply done it a little later than London imagined, and frankly, the truth is that London was not seeking to write a history of the future, it is not a specific prediction, but a general one, and as that, it is chilling. Vive la revolution.

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Michael, Brother of Jerry by Jack London - Michael, the brilliant Irish Terrier - a must read for dog lovers

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II DAG DAUGHTRY strolled along the beach, Michael at his heels or running circles of delight around him at every repetition of that strange low lip- noise, and paused just outside the circle of lantern light where dusky forms laboured with landing cargo from the whaleboats and where the Commissioners clerk and. the Makambos supercargo still wrangled over the bill of lading. When Michael would have gone forward, the man withstrained him with the same inarticulate, almost inaudible, kiss. For Daughtry did not care to be seen on such dog- stealing enterprise and was planning how to get oa board the steamer unobserved. He edged around outside the lantern shine and went on along the beach to the native village. As he had foreseen, all the able- bodied men were down at the boat-landing working cargo. The grass houses seemed lifeless, but at last, from one of them, came a challenge in the querulous, high-pitched tones of age: What name? Me walk about plenty too much, he replied in the beche de mer English of the West South Pacific. Me belong along steamer. Supposem you takem me along canoe, washee-washee, me givem you fella boy two stick tobacco. Supposem you givem me ten stick, all right along me, came the reply. Me givem five stick. the six-quart steward bar- gained. Supposem you no likem five stick then you fella boy go to hell close up. There was a silence. You likem five stick? Daughtry insisted of the dark interior. Me likem, the darkness answered, and through the darkness the body that owned the voice approached with such strange sounds that the steward lighted a match to see. A blear-eyed ancient stood before him, balancing on a single crutch. His eyes were half-filmed over by a growth of morbid membrane...

Michael, the brilliant Irish Terrier - a must read for dog lovers
I happened across this book while looking for stories about Irish Terriers. I wouldn't normally read Jack London; his stories always seemed more to my brother's liking. However, this book quickly grabbed me because a lot of it is written from the dog's perspective. And those passages are spot on. Michael reminded me so much of my own Irish Terrier and how he thinks and reasons. It really got to my heart. When I finished reading, I made a donation to the ASPCA. And although I don't know much about Jack London, I'd bet he had an Irish Terrier himself, for sure.

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The Fur Country by Jules Vernes - Classic Verne in the Arctic Circle

On the evening of the 17th March 1859 Captain Craventy gave a fete at Fort Reliance. Our readers must not at once imagine a grand entertainment such as a court ball or a musical soiree with a fine orchestra. Captain Craventys reception was a very simple affair yet he had spared no pains to give it eclat.

Classic Verne in the Arctic Circle
I bought this book last fall, and after a month or two it finally arrived from England. It was worth the wait. Excellent. The story is captivating and the characters are memorable. The environmental issues cannot go unnoticed, nor can the allusions to Noah's Ark. Verne takes some shots at the fur industry of North America during the mid-1800s. He criticizes their endless and mindless killing of animals just for the purpose of making a buck. The story also demonstrates the will of man and the power of faith in God when facing seemingly insurmountable odds.

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Reuters Oddly Enough - Great Entertainment, Great Price!

Reuters is a leading global source for breaking news. Best known as a service that provides reports from around the world to newspapers and broadcasters, Reuters Oddly Enough is updated hourly with general human interest news, and the just plain weird.

Kindle blogs are fully downloaded onto your Kindle so you can read them even when youre not wirelessly connected. And unlike RSS readers which often only provide headlines, blogs on Kindle contain full text content and images, and are updated wirelessly throughout the day.

Great Entertainment, Great Price!
Reuters Oddly Enough sends wacky, entertaining news stories to your Kindle each weekday (sometimes several a day!). Most of them are short and great for when you just have a minute or two for reading. It seems like almost every story is a Wow, youre not gonna believe THIS one! and I find myself reading them over to my fiancee and family. For all that, the price is excellent and having it delivered to the Kindle is very convenient! Enjoy!

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Encyclopaedia of Japanese Business and Management by Allan Bird - An Excellent Reference

Reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of this field, this volume consolidates and contextualizes the leading research and knowledge about the Japanese business system and Japanese management thought and practice. This definitive reference work for the exploration of Japanese business and management will be valuable to scholars and students alike as an essential resource for teaching, an invaluable companion to independent study, and a solid starting point for wider exploration.
Entries include:
* Bubble Economy
* Dual Structure Theory
* Industrial Efficiency Movement
* Japanese Business in the U.S.
* Just-In-Time
* Kaizen * Lifetime Employment
* Mitsubishi Corporation
* Quality Control Circles
* Total Productive Management
* and many more.

An Excellent Reference
This book is the most comprehensive reference I have seen on Japanese business related topics. Entries cover business history, leaders, management, technology, and company profiles. The authors appear to be well informed and up-to-date on what is happening in Japan, the writing is concise and the citations are helpful for research. I highly recommed this as a must-have reference for anyone interested in Japan and/or global business.

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Be Happy Or Ill Scream!: My Deranged Quest for the Perfect Husband, Family, and Life by Sheri Lynch - True to Life,and hysterically funny.

BE HAPPY OR ILL SCREAM is for every married woman who has found just the tiniest bit of disconnect between the image of a perfect family in her head-think -The Brady Bunch- or -The Huxtables--and the evidence in front of her eyes.  Instead of darling and compliant rosy-cheeked children and an adorably tolerant husband ready to go along with zany shenanigans, most women are faced with: kids who view family outings with all the enthusiasm of hardened inmates forced to bust rocks in roadside Alabama and a man who would trade every last one of her kooky ideas for a just a teeny little bit more sex and a hot meal on the table at six. Sheri Lynch is a superb humorist of modern marriage, mores, and motherhood.    Her take on what life is really like inside a marriage-as opposed to what it looks like on the holiday card version of same-will ring both wacky and true to any woman who was ever foolish enough to dream of the perfect marriage and family.   

True to Life,and hysterically funny.
Sheri Lynch paints a clear picture here.Life is disfunctional and we have to swim around it!Her antics will make not only you roar with laughter,but those who get subjected to,"listen to this".Nothing is sugar coated in her quest to be like the Cleavers and you gotta love her for that.She puts it out there,puke and all.I very much enjoyed the laughs I got from this book!

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Formal Syntax and Semantics of Java - Excellent for Computer Scientists

Java, undoubtedly, has its roots in embedded systems and the Web. Nevertheless, it is a fully functional high-level programming language that can provide users with a wide range of functionality and versatility. This thoroughly cross-reviewed state-of-the-art survey is devoted to the study of the syntax and semantics of Java from a formal-methods point of view. It consists of the following chapters by leading researchers: Formal Grammar for Java; Describing the Semantics of Java and Proving Type Soundness; Proving Java Type Soundness; Machine-Checking the Java Specification: Proving Type-Safety; An Event-Based Structural Operational Semantics of Multi-Threaded Java Dynamic Denotational Semantics of Java; A Programmers Reduction Semantics for Classes and Mixins; A Formal Specification of Java Virtual Machine Instructions for Objects, Methods and Subroutines; The Operational Semantics of a Java Secure Processor; A Programmer Friendly Modular Definition of the Semantics of Java.

Excellent for Computer Scientists
Not for programmers. With a highly theoretical content. Knowledge on Formal notation is required (logic, inference, et al). It could be useful for comercial compiler implementation or comercial JVM implemetation. It covers: Java Formal Grammar, Type Soundness and Type Safety proofs,and so on. Have a lot of bibliography.

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Climb! by Tia Sillers - Very Inspirational

In their first book, Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers said that if you ever have the choice in life to sit it out or dance, I Hope You Dance. But every life has obstacles.We all face mountains. Dancing sounds like fun, but what happens when you encounter Mount I Failed Algebra? Or Mount I Think Dad is an Alcoholic? Or Mount My Mom is Always Sad? Then there is Mount I Lost My Job and Mount I Was Left Standing at the Altar. When there is a mountain in front of you, theres really only one thing you can do. You can Climb!

In their second book, Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers tell you what you should take in your backpack when you climb the mountains you will face in life. Isnt it funny how the things you need to take on your journey dont weigh you down: hope and love, strength and tenderness, faith and joy. Unlike denial or regret, these things put light in your life. Climb! is a book of optimism. It is a book of encouragement. It is a beautiful gift book for climbers who want to dance with faith all the way to the top of the mountain.

Very Inspirational
My first "Climb" book was given to me as a gift. I have now given it out to at least 25 people. I find it to say all the right inspirational words for every occaission. Highly recommended read!

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High Speed CMOS Design Styles by Norman J. Rohrer - An excellent reference on cell-based circuit topologies.

High Speed CMOS Design Styles is written for the graduate-level student or practicing engineer who is primarily interested in circuit design. It is intended to provide practical reference, or `horse-sense, to mechanisms typically described with a more academic slant. This book is organized so that it can be used as a textbook or as a reference book. High Speed CMOS Design Styles provides a survey of design styles in use in industry, specifically in the high speed microprocessor design community. Logic circuit structures, I/O and interface, clocking, and timing schemes are reviewed and described. Characteristics, sensitivities and idiosyncrasies of each are highlighted. High Speed CMOS Design Styles also pulls together and explains contributors to performance variability that are associated with process, applications conditions and design. Rules of thumb and practical references are offered. Each of the general circuit families is then analyzed for its sensitivity and response to this variability. High Speed CMOS Design Styles is an excellent source of ideas and a compilation of observations that highlight how different approaches trade off critical parameters in design and process space.

An excellent reference on cell-based circuit topologies.
The IBM authors wrote a concise reference manual on circuit
design, process variation effects on circuits, and time borrowing. What is missing? Sections on sequential circuit design, transistor sizing techniques, or modeling circuits through mathematics, spice and verilog. However, this is among the most lucid texts written on circuit structures to date.

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The Ultimate Scene and Monologue Sourcebook, Updated and Expanded Edition: An Actors Reference to Over 1,000 Scenes and Monologues from More than 300 Con temporary Plays by Ed Hooks - Awesome Monologue Book!

All actors and acting teachers need The Ultimate Scene and Monologue Sourcebook, the invaluable guide to finding just the right piece for every audition. The unique format of the book is ideal for acting teachers who want their students to understand each monologue in context. This remarkable book describes the characters, action, and mood for more than 1,000 scenes in over 300 plays. Using these guidelines, the actor can quickly pinpoint the perfect monologue, then find the text in the Samuel French or Dramatist Play Service edition of the play. Newly revised and expanded, the book includes the author's own assessment of each monologue.

Awesome Monologue Book!
For anyone, whether you're a teen or all the way up to your 50's, this is a great book to have when you need common monologue practice or something new that no one's heard of before! Not only does it give you great pieces to work with, it'll tell you who it's for [age, sex, with a partner, alone] as well as the tone it sets with a brief description of what's going on! This is not a book that PROVIDES the monolgues, but the sources to it and how to go about acting it. It's a source that'll quickly show you if the monologues made for you or isn't. It's a quick find and amazing to understand. I can't wait to try this out for an audition!

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Time and Intimacy: A New Science of Personal Relationships by JOEL.B. BENNETT - Quite insightful into types of intimacy and their association with time

There is a mysterious connection between our experiences of intimacy--of love, the longing to feel connected, and sexual embrace--and the human sense of time--eternity, impermanence, and rhythm. In this critical analysis of the time-intimacy equation, Bennett shows how the scientific study of personal relationships can address this mystery. As a study of transpersonal science, this book points to the possible evolution of intimacy and of our consciousness of time, and how the two evolutionary paths weave together.$linebreak$Dr. Bennett draws from a wide array of resources to advance and marry two compelling themes: first, the social and clinical science of personal relationships should integrate the spiritual or transpersonal dimension of intimacy, and second, science can contribute to lay understandings by describing the richly temporal aspects of relationships. In blending popular literature, transpersonal psychology, and scientific research and theory, this work also attempts to address the lack of dialogue between academics who study personal intimacy and those writers in the popular press who give advice and guidelines for building intimacy.$linebreak$Time and Intimacy is written for a broad audience, intended for those with a general interest in relationships, as well as for students, counselors, and psychologists. It can be used as a text in courses on personal relationships, as well as to supplement courses in humanistic psychology, transpersonal psychology, interpersonal communication, relationships, marital and family counseling, human relations, and related areas. Because it advances an interdisciplinary understanding of personal relationships, this book is certain to challenge prevailing views about the meaning of intimacy in both the academic and popular literatures.

Quite insightful into types of intimacy and their association with time
This book has valuable insight for anyone wishing to explore the varieties of intimacy that make up the fabric of human life and how these intimacies can be developed on a personal, intrapersonal and interpersonal level.

With exercises and checklists, this is the type of book that lends itself to careful reading, journaling, reflection, meditation or other insight.

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Area Array Packaging Handbook : Manufacturing and Assembly by Ken Gilleo - Handy Packaging Handbook

*Covers design, packaging, construction, assembly, and application of all three approaches to Area Array Packaging: Ball Grid Array (BGA), Chip Scale Package (CSP), and Flip Chip (FC)*Details the pros and cons of each technology with varying applications*Examines packaging ramifications of high density interconnects (HDI)

Handy Packaging Handbook
Three competing technologies are presently battling for position in the high density microelectronics packaging arena. In this book, Ken Gilleo has corralled all three competitors - Ball Grid Array (BGA), Chip-Scale Packaging (CSP), and Flip Chip - in a single handbook that is a comprehensive reference, problem solver, and get-smart-fast source for packaging engineers, designers, production engineers, manufacturing specialists, and those from all of the other disciplines associated with microelectronics packaging.

The book brings together contributions from many of those disciplines by many talented contributors. The 38 authors include widely-known industry stars, such as Marie Cole, Dan Baldwin, Joe Fjelstad, Jennie Hwang, Wayne Johnson, Jan Vardaman, and Phil Zarrow, as well others equally expert in their own fields, if lesser known. Of course, the multi-talented Dr. Gilleo contributed several chapters, while editing the volume and riding herd on 37 cats.

The subjects covered begin with package concept and design and move through many of the intermediate stages of development and manufacture, to yields, costs, and markets. The 31 chapters are grouped into five major sections, following the flow from concept to markets.

Concepts and Design ranges in time from the pre-history of microelectronics (vacuum tubes) to the future history of packaging for current developments such as MEMS (microelectromechanical systems). After an industry overview and trends, chapters are devoted to each a wide variety of packaging, including arrays, stacked 3-dimensional, compliant ICs, and MEMS. Ken Gilleo gives a good overview of flip chip, and Marie Cole explains ceramic column grid arrays.

Materials addresses packaging ingredients. Coverage includes polymers, hermetic getters, the care and feeding of solder spheres, lead-free formulations (including their social and economic consequences), and conductive adhesives. Jennie Hwang's 59 page chapter on solder and solder paste is practically a book in itself.

Equipment and Processes is the largest section, with 11 chapters. It begins with Dan Baldwin detailing next-generation flip chip, and Wayne Johnson describing substrate design, assembly, underfills, and reliability. Rework includes chapters both for die attach rework and for BGA and CSP packages rework. Encapsulation, process development and control, and reliability have separate chapters, as do molding, screen printing and stenciling, high speed package mounting, and ovens.

Economics and Productivity begins with metrics: how to measure productivity, if any. The following chapter on cost estimating shows how to convert that productivity to profits. Both disciplines are overlooked in many texts and most companies.

Future considers the direction and destiny, both of electronic packaging and of packaging equipment, but not of the human race, and finds it pleasing. Convergences and their consequences on future packaging, and the expected evolution of SMT equipment, bring our forward-looking saga to a close.

The handbook format allows the experts to present their topics in free-standing chapters, as if they were consultants leaning over your shoulder. This format provides more practical detail than the broader but less specialized textbook format, at some sacrifice of the textbook's breadth and structure. These chapters vary in both the scope of the subject matter and in the depth of the presentation, ranging from 7 to 100 pages (mean = 24.06 pages, sigma =17.44 pages). The 400 illustrations (mean = 0.5 per page) make for easier understanding of the sometimes complex detail. Chapter-end references supply alternative sources for exploring further along these or tangential paths.

In summary, I recommend this book for gaining an understanding of the current state-of-the-art in these three packaging technologies, as an excellent reference for a wide variety of packaging topics, and as a valuable tool for solving present packaging problems and avoiding future ones.

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Leishmania - Review by Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease

Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Text written to supplement more formal texts covering taxonomy, life cycles, morphology, vector distribution, symptoms, and treatment. Integrates vector, pathogen, and host biology and celebrates the diversity of approaches comprising modern parasitological research.

Review by Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease
This book is a useful reference for researchers, especially for updated information presented in table form for Leishmania spp. (pp. 3 and 14-6), sand fly vectors (pp. 34-5) and regimens of chemotherapy (pp. 135-6). Authors were well-chosen to introduce the topics of their own research presented in 11 chapters (~15 pages each). Most chapters are, by necessity, focused largely on the authors' own work or views due apparently to page limitation. This is adequate and even desirable for frequently reviewed subjects, such as sand fly biology by Killick-Kendrick; or a relatively specific or new topic, which is naturally so or made so by the authors' skills, such as membrane transport by Landfear and Leishmania infection on macrophage function by Matlashewski. These chapters are thus probably most friendly to the general reader. The same can be said to a greater or lesser extent for chapters on macrophage receptors for Leishmania by Mosser and Brittingham, chemotherapy of leishmanasis by Zilberstein and Ephros, and Leishmania-sand fly interactions by Kamhawi. The space allocated is clearly insufficient to account for all necessary details, diversities and unknowns in the epidemiology of human and canine leishmaniasis, as presented by Dedet, Shaw and Campino as well as for the complexities and uncertainties in the immunobiology of leishmaniasis by Kaye, Farrell and Campos-Neto. These chapters will undoubtedly be appreciated by the specialists, but may not be by general readers who have little or no prior exposure to the caveat or nuance of Leishmania epidemiology and immunology. An exception to this may be the chapter by Campos-Neto on vaccines, since this is an area of great interest, and since some data from work in progress were presented. The book would be improved with the addition of another chapter or two on cell and molecular biology of Leishmania to discuss, for example, some exciting discoveries and development, e. g. unique cell organelles (e. g. tubular lysosomes, acidocalcisomes), glycobiology, gene expression, genome project, molecular genetics, kinetoplast RNA editing. Some of these topics are trypanosomatid-, but not necessarily Leishmania-specific. Still, our knowledge of how parasites and hosts work at cellular and molecular levels is crucial in our attempt to understand their interactions that makes leishmaniasis so unique in all aspects from epidemiology to immunobiology. There is high hope to render these biological phenotypes less descriptive and more clearly defined by genomic, proteomic, glyconomic, metabolomic and other bioinformatic approaches.

There are several non-scientific distractions. There appears to be no copy-editing work, resulting in too many incomplete literature citations (four in pp. 147-50), and many typographic errors in the text, including two in the Preface. The Index is too brief and chapters are illustrated with very few diagrams and no photographs. These deficiencies are possibly due to a desire for rapid publication to keep chapters current and/or to cost-cutting measures established by the publisher.

Nevertheless, many readers will find interesting thoughts and insights from their own perspectives in many chapters of this book, including this reviewer with decades of exposure to Leishmania and leishmaniasis. I find Shaw's historical view on this disease in the Amazon region interesting, as described in his chapter on South American leishmaniasis. His writing on the separation of subgenous Leihsmania and Viannia clarifies some confusion of our own experimental data. It is also interesting that PKDL is thought to result from the targeting of effector function against parasites in the skin of patients recovering from VL after chemotherapy, as stated by Kaye citing the work of Theander's group. These are just several examples of my own deficiencies rectified by reading this book. Other readers will find specific points of interest according to their own backgrounds and knowledge.

The editor and serial editors deserve our appreciation and congratulations for their successful endeavour by putting this volume together for publication. There has been no hard cover book devoted to Leishmania since the late 1980's. This book may well be the last one of this kind, since in this era of information highway, the next book on Leishmania and leishmaniasis is likely to be electronically digitized for sale in the website. I will make sure to keep my copy around and urge you all to rush order a copy before it is sold.
Kwang-Poo Chng, Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease 2003, 2:9

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Student Cheating and Plagiarism in the Internet Era: A Wake-Up Call by Kathleen Foss - Information parents need BEFORE their child cheats

Put a stop to high-tech and more traditional low-tech forms of cheating and plagiarism. Also, learn to recognize the danger signs for cheating and how to identify material that has been copied. Sample policies for developing academic integrity, reproducible lessons for students and faculty, and lists of helpful online and print resources are included. A must-read for concerned educators, administrators, and parents.

Information parents need BEFORE their child cheats
I never realized there were so many different ways to cheat on tests in school or to use the Internet to steal somebody else's paper to hand in instead of writing your own. And I had no idea that such a high percentage of students cheat and plagiarize. Now I know what clues to watch for to be sure my son is doing his own work in middle school. I also like the guidelines that tell me how to help my son do his homework and school projects without our being dishonest about it. There are good suggestions for working effectively with school administrators and teachers. Many of the chapters list web sites that have additional information on the chapter's topic. Any parent of a middle school or high school student will learn a lot from this book.

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Artificial Immune Systems: Third International Conference, ICARIS 2004, Catania, Sicily, Italy, September 13-16, 2004, Proceedings - Amazing Book!

Artificial Immune Systems (AIS) are adaptive systems inspired by the biological immune system and applied to problem solving. This book provides an accessible introduction that will be suitable for anyone who is beginning to study or work in this area. It gives a clear definition of AIS, sets out the foundations of the topic (including basic algorithms), and analyzes how the immune system relates to other biological systems and processes. No prior knowledge of immunology is needed - all the essential background information is covered in the introductory chapters.

Amazing Book!
I recently started my Thesis on Artificial Immune Systems, and this was the first place I looked. This book gave me the foundation that I needed to start my own AIS. I was a little disappointed with the fact that the book is outdated, and a lot of the sources that the authors use are no longer available, but if you know how search for people on the Internet then it isn't a problem.

The first couple of chapters go through the history and the functionality of the vertebrate immune system. This is obviously important when it comes to creating your own AIS. However, if you already did your research on the immune system then it is possible to just skip these chapters. The next couple chapters explain how it is possible to convert biological functions to computer code. The book does bring up a lot of immune-inspired algorithms to the table, and it explains how they work. Some more chapters explain some examples of how one could use an AIS. For example, there are some explanations on how an AIS can be used for an intrusion detection system or optimization. There are many more, but I won't list them here. The later chapters didn't really pertain to me, so I didn't read them thoroughly. The chapters bring up the future of AIS and it's possibilities. Overall, I would highly reccommend this book to anyone who is interested in either AIS in general, or if you are starting out a project pertaining to an AIS.

Some things to think about when buying this book:
Yes, this book is the perfect place to start if you know nothing about AIS.
Yes, this book does offer some pseudocode algorithms, and they do help.
Not every chapter of this book is necessary to read.
Yes this book goes over immune system algorithms.
No, this book will not code your immune system if that is what you are thinking.

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A Numerical Library in Java for Scientists Engineers by HANG.T. LAU - A book of good value

No description available

A book of good value
It is indispensable to have the source code of such a
high quality numerical library to experiment on the PC.

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FREE Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements (Mendeleevs Table) in the Trial Version. The Full version adds Melting & boiling points, Density, Electronegativity, ... affinity, and more (Mobi Study Guides) by MobileReference - The demo version has a basic periodic table. Nothing elaborate, but quite readable on Kindle.

Free Periodic Table in the DEMO Version. Melting & boiling points, Density, Electronegativity, Electron affinity, and much more in the Full version. Navigate from TOC or search for words or phrases.

Features

• Formatted for a small screen
• Atomic numbers, symbols & weights
• Chemical symbols and more...
• Easy to navigate.
• Search for the words or phrases
• Navigate from Table of Contents or read page by page
• Access the guide anytime, anywhere - at home, on the train, in the subway.
• Use your down time to prepare for an exam.
• Always have the guide available for a quick reference.

Table of Contents

Periodic Table: Standard | Large

List of elements sorted by: Atomic number (including atomic Mass) | Name | Symbol | Boiling Point | Melting Point | Density | Atomic radius | Electronegativity | Electron affinity | Ionization potential | Standard enthalpy change of vaporization | Standard enthalpy change of fusion | Specific heat capacity

About Periodic Table: Arrangement | Periodicity of chemical properties | Electron configuration | Naming of elements | Chemical symbols | History

Chemical Series: Alkali metal | Alkaline earth metal | Lanthanides | Actinides | Transition metals | Poor metals | Metalloids | Nonmetals | Halogens | Noble gases

Appendix: IUPAC nomenclature | Metric system (SI) | SI writing style | Powers of 10 prefixes | United States units conversion

The demo version has a basic periodic table. Nothing elaborate, but quite readable on Kindle.
The demo version has a basic periodic table. Nothing elaborate, but quite readable on Kindle.

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Colored Waters by Brad Stratton - A great detective thriller!

The first in a series of crime mystery novels featuring Michael Chambers. Calloused and hardened as he has become, Michael has a difficult time watching the video someone is using to blackmail his client, Laurel Silverman, the beautiful daughter of a Hollywood producer.

A great detective thriller!
Brad Stratton's first novel, "Colored Waters," clearly indicates that he is a major writing talent. He has combined an exciting detective mystery with an action thriller, and it's easy to see how this book could be turned into a great movie.

The book's hero is the detective Michael Chambers, whose age is never given, but is old enough to be very practiced and knowledgeable in many areas, and young enough to attract the ladies and manage some pretty skilled physical feats. He's also quite witty, which keeps the story appropriately light at times. The mystery begins when he gets an assignment from a Hollywood mogul to figure out who is blackmailing him, and it quickly turns into a much more sinister entanglement with Los Angeles's criminal underworld. I can't tell you more, but it's definitely a page-turner!

It's too bad that Stratton isn't more widely known, but I for one am looking forward to now reading his second novel, "White Lies."

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False Positive by JJ Dare - A MUST READ!!!

A mysterious thriller, continues to extend its scope as it inexorably drags us through murder, war, espionage and vast conspiracy. Haggard, former commando, Joe Daniels, thought he had at last escaped his brutal past with his lovely wife Beanie and a boring job as a police officer. His placid world begins to unwind when his wife is involved in an inexplicable accident that leaves her changed in every way; then ghosts from his past begin to emerge.

A MUST READ!!!
This book is a page turner from start to finish! I literally could not put it down. (I read it in one sitting.) The ending leaves you hoping the author won't take too long to publish the 2nd book so we know what happens next in Joe's life!

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Atlantis Endgame: A New Time Traders Adventure by Sherwood Smith - Hit and Run Time Travel

Andre Norton and Sherwood Smith have collaborated on Solar Queen and Time Traders novels, but never before have they created as rousing an adventure as awaits Ross Murdock, Gordon Ashe, and the rest of the Time Patrol in Ancient Atlantis.

In Earths future, when time travel has become possible, the Time Patrol is the top secret government agency that protects Earths past, so that our history will not become corrupted by invaders from either our future or from other worlds. For many years, Murdock, Ashe, and other members of the Time Patrol have contended with threats to our time continuum, none more deadly than the alien Baldies, who hate other high-tech civilizations and want to destroy Earth.

Evidence of time travel has been found in ruins dating to the ancient world . . . in the legendary realm of Atlantis. So Murdock, Ashe, Eveleen Riordan, and other Time Patrollers deck themselves out as foreign traders to discover whether something is amiss in Atlantis. They find that the Baldies are there, as evidenced by sophisticated, high-tech equipment, whose purpose it is impossible to fathom. As they try to derail the Baldies plot, the Time Patrollers realize that time is running out on their mission, when Atlantis is shaken by tremors that presage a cataclysm that may be the disaster that sank the fabulous island state.

But they must be sure they act to preserve, not destroy, history--and if theyre wrong, itll be too late . . . for them and for Earths future.

Hit and Run Time Travel
Atlantis Endgame (2002) is the seventh novel in the Time Traders series, following Echoes in Time. It tells the further adventures of Ross Murdock, his wife, Eveleen Riordan, and his partner, Gordon Ashe. It also adds a new character, Linnea Edel, an old acquaintance of Gordon.

In this story, Linnea has found an anachronistic earring with a modern jeweler's mark in a site on Thera, the probable location of legendary ancient Atlantis. While interesting in and of itself, it becomes extremely intriguing when found to be identical to an earring belonging to Eveleen. This existence of this object in ancient layers of soil suggests that it was lost circa 1628 BC, shortly before the island was destroyed by an huge volcanic eruption.

The Project suspects Baldie intervention in the eruption and intends to send a team back in time to investigate. The Russian time travel group cooperates with the Project to send a small ship with six agents aboard back to Kalliste, the ancient name of Thera before the eruption.

From there, they travel to Akrotiri -- the major town on the island -- where they discover signs of Baldie tech in the volcano vents both on land and in the sea. Later a group of Baldies are seen on the beach, apparently looking for indications of THEM. They also find a Baldie ship in the sea, but can't locate the Baldie onshore base. They do find a couple of Fur Faces, a alien sentient species encountered only once before; however, they do not seem to be allies of the Baldies.

The natives are anxiously awaiting word from their oracle, but nothing new has been spoken in the past few months. Some Kallistans have left the island anyway, terrified by the frequent earthquakes and the steam, smoke, ash and rock ejected by the volcano. Linnea claims to be an Egyptian Earth-Goddess priestess to infiltrate the Oracle's household and is there when the seer orders the evacuation of the island.

This novel is driven by the imminent threat of eruption, so is more like a hit and run than the almost leisurely exploration in the other tales in this series. The team are all disappointed by the lack of opportunity to study this almost unknown culture, but Linnea, the newcomer, is particularly frustrated by the time limit.

Recommended for all Norton fans and anyone who enjoys tales of ancient societies in a SF setting. For those who have not previously read this series, the initial volume is The Time Traders.

-Arthur W. Jordin

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The Sea Larks Song by Diana Marcellas - excellent tale-telling

With Mother Ocean, Daughter Sea, Diana Marcellas crafted an incredible first novel that explored what it means to be different, to value that difference, and what happens when one trusts in true love. The Sea Larks Song is the second in this achingly beautiful triptych of tales about a most extraordinary woman who holds the power to reshape an entire world . . . buy if she has the courage.

Young Brierley thinks she is the last sharia witch in the world. The Sharia people were an ancient race-a gentle and proud people who knew how to harness the powers of the world for the benefit of all. When the seafaring Allemani tribes came to their shores, the two races lived side by side for generations, but something went horribly awry and the Sharia people were suddenly and brutally slain by the new settlers who feared the sharia and their powers. The pitiful remnants of this people were scattered and any that held the knowledge of the old ways were proscribed to be hunted to death.

Brierley saved the life of a noblemans wife-a nobleman sworn to obliterate any trace of witchery-and stumbled into a web of deceit and power struggles more deadly than anything she had ever faced. Her decision led her to danger, banishment, and near death. But she survived in spite of it all and wonder of wonder, found true love in the bargain.

So now her journey begins. Her way will be hard and filled with peril. But there is hope too. For Brierley has discovered two things that will change her world forever: that the power of love is stronger than most of the worlds magic.

And that she is not the last. . . .

excellent tale-telling
I didn't realize this was the second in a series when I bought it. No matter, it explains itself well. I really enjoyed it, especially in that the plot is sufficiently complex and only got more so as the book went on, and that all the characterization is sound and attractive. I will definitely be buying the rest of the trilogy and likely anything else the author comes up with. It is a clearly seen World, with no distressing over-similarities to any other fantasy realms I'm familiar with. The magic is neither cheesy nor impossible to understand. I don't see any real flaws in this book, and recommend it to lovers of Morgan Llywelyn, Andre Norton, Robin McKinley and Cecilia Dart-Thornton.

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Dinner at the New Gene Café: How Genetic Engineering Is Changing What We Eat, How We Live, and the Global Politics of Food by Bill Lambrecht - The new age of eating

It may be true that we are what we eat. Now, with a flood of genetically modified foods overtaking the market, it is possible to eat what we are. But the prospect of genetic cannibalism is the least of the worries of food activists, and journalist Bill Lambrechts Dinner at the New Gene Café follows both sides of the genetically modified organism (GMO) debate with vigor. Hes been covering the story since the mid-1980s, interviewing agricultural officials, biotech industry executives, family farmers, and protesters to build a comprehensive understanding of the issues.

Lambrechts writing, clear and direct, explains the science and politics plainly enough that even those who flunked Biology or Poli Sci 101 can understand his arguments. He is equally skeptical of the claims of industry shills and activists, and often shakes his head in wonder at the incompetence of government agencies. From academic conferences to the Battle for Seattle, hes seen every aspect of the GMO wars, as they ignited in Europe and slowly spread across the world and eventually penetrated the U.S. Peppered with short essays on his own illegal home experiments with GMO seeds, Dinner at the New Gene Café offers readers insight into a growing question that will most likely define our menu choices for many years to come. --Rob Lightner

The new age of eating
If you are curious about what you are eating this is a necessary book for you. Bill Lambrecht provides an unbiased resource for those intrested in the history of GMO food. Lambrecht gives the opinions of scientists, politicians and the farmers that grow these crops. This provides a balenced collage of information that allows anyone to make up their own mind about what the future of food should be.

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The Confessions Of Nat Turner by William Styron - Try as I might I cant see that this is racist

Powerful, prize-winning 1967 novel depicts the odyssey of Nat Turner, leader of first slave revolt in the US. Styrons novel was profoundly controversial; some felt thats a white author had no right to the subject matter. By the acclaimed author of SOPHIES CHOICE, SET THIS HOUSE ON FIRE and LIE DOWN IN DARKNESS.

Try as I might I cant see that this is racist
This is an extremely controversial book. Before one comments on racism, it seems best to explain who you are. I am a caucasian male who would be classified as liberal. I acknowledge that, from my perspective, I dont always see racism or feel it in the same way as many minorities do. As with anyone, I can only view things from my perspective.

I found this book to be beautifully written, heartbreaking and with many layers.

As a previous reviewer wrote, this was a book where no character was portrayed as fully good or fully bad.

Nat Turner was highly intelligent and his rage and actions were understandable given the horrific injustice of slavery. I think his portrayal was complex and sympathetic. I felt I understood why a man exposed to what he had been exposed to and treated as chattel would act as he did. I was horrified by some of the choices to kill children but again I cant say how I would act in his situation.

This is a very hard hitting, disturbing work and I admire it tremendously. A point that is made very clearly is that slaveowners were different. Some were sympathetic and some were abusive. In the end, their characteristics did not save them. They were all slaveowners and were targets of the uprising. There were no good slaveowners and I like that this point was made.

There is a segment where Turner lusts for a young white girl and some believe that this is a demonstration of racism in that it propagates the idea that all black men want white women. I think it is a lot more complex than that. As Styron writes in his afterword, Turner only killed one person personally and it was a young girl who he likely knew. Styron invented a story to connect the two and it made for a very powerful scene when Turner kills her.

Whether you think this is racist or not, Id encourage you to read it.

I think its an absolute masterpiece and viewing it as racist seems a very twisted interpretation.

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A Member of the Club by Lawrence Otis Graham - Jack and Jill

Informed and driven by his experience as an upper-middle-class African American who lives and works in a predominately white environment, provocative author Lawrence Otis Graham offers a unique perspective on the subject of race. An uncompromising work that will challenge the mindset of every reader, Member of the Club is a searching book of essays ranging from examining life as a black Princetonian and corporate lawyer to exploring life as a black busboy at an all white country-club. From New York magazine cover stories Invisible Man and Harlem on My Mind to such new essays as I Never Dated a White Girl and My Dinner with Mister Charlie: A Black Mans Undercover Guide to Dining with Dignity at Ten Top New York Restaurants, Graham challenges racial prejudice among White Americans while demanding greater accountability and self-determination from his peers in black America. In Member of the Club. [Graham writes of] heartbreaking ironies and contradictions, indignities and betrayals in the life of an upper-class black man. --Philadelphia Inquirer Lawrence Graham Surely knows about the pressures of being beholden to two very different groups. --Los Angeles Times Lawrence Otis Graham is a popular commentator on race and ethnicity. The author of ten other books, his work has appeared in New York magazine, the New York Times and The Best American Essays. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Jack and Jill
1. An excellent read.
2. Classic.
3. A JackandJill-US.com must-have.
4. Inside the black upper class.

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Integrity: The Courage to Face the Demands of Reali by Henry Cloud - There is more to integrity than you might think

Integrity. It is more than simple honesty. Its the key to success. A person with integrity has the -- often rare -- ability to pull everything together, to make it all happen no matter how challenging the circumstances.

Drawing on experiences from his work with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, and individual leaders, Dr. Henry Cloud, a clinical psychologist and nationally syndicated radio host, shows how our character can keep us from achieving all we want to (or could) be.

In Integrity, Dr. Cloud explores the six qualities of character that define integrity. He uses stories from well-known business leaders like Michael Dell and sports figures like Tiger Woods to illustrate each of these qualities. He shows us how people with integrity:

• Are able to connect with others and build trust
• Are oriented toward reality
• Finish well
• Embrace the negative
• Are oriented toward increase
• Have an understanding of the transcendent

Success is not related to only talent or brains. There are a lot of bright, talented people who are never successful. And the most successful are not only the ones with the most talent. The real factor, Cloud demonstrates, is the makeup of the person. All of us can grow in the kinds of real character that bring about fruitful relationships and achievement of purpose, mission, and goals. Integrity is not something that you either have or dont, but instead is an exciting growth path that all of us can engage in and enjoy.

There is more to integrity than you might think
I remember discussing integrity with a successful businessman. He thought that you either had integrity or you did not, and if you did not have it he would not hire you. The problem is that I have never met anyone who was completely trustworthy, and I have never met anyone who was completely untrustworthy. And there is a lot more to integrity than trustworthiness.

Henry Cloud identifies six aspects of integrity in his book Integrity: establishing trust, orientation towards truth, getting results, embracing the negative, orientation towards increase, and orientation towards transcendence. While I am not sure I would have picked exactly the same components of integrity, I found the book to be a very useful exploration of what needs to happen below the surface of honesty.

A person who has integrity is not just someone who tells the truth. It is someone who also understands and communicates well with other people, who has a firm grip on reality, who tells it like it is, who has the persistence and fortitude to see things through to the end, who listens to criticism and is willing to endure confrontation and do the difficult jobs, who is always learning, and who understands that he or she is a small person in a very big world.

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Sandra Day OConnor by Joan Biskupic - Well written

Sandra Day OConnor, Americas first woman justice, became the axis on which the Supreme Court turned. She was called the most powerful woman in America, and it was often said that to gauge the direction of American law, one need look only to OConnors vote. Then, just one year short of a quarter century on the bench, she surprised her colleagues and the nation by announcing her retirement.

Drawing on information from once-private papers of the justices, hundreds of interviews with legal and political insiders, and the insight gained from nearly two decades of covering the Supreme Court, Joan Biskupic examines OConnors remarkable career, providing an in-depth account of her transformation from tentative jurist to confident architect of American law. The portrait that emerges is of a complex and multifaceted woman: lawyer, politician, legislator, and justice, as well as wife, mother, A-list society hostess, and competitive athlete. To all appearances, she was the polite lady in pearls, handbag on her arm. But in the back rooms of politics and the law, she was a determined, focused strategist. OConnor was the feminist who, rather than rebel against the male-dominated system, worked from within -- and succeeded.

As Biskupic demonstrates, Justice OConnor became much more than a first. During her twenty-four-year tenure, she wrote the decisions on some of the most controversial social battles of our time. OConnors tie-breaking opinions on issues such as abortion rights, affirmative action, the death penalty, and religious freedom will have a lasting effect far into the future. OConnor also cast one of the five votes that cut off the Florida recounts and allowed George W. Bush to take the White House in the 2000 contested presidential election. With an eye to the American people and a keen sense of public attitudes, she worked behind the scenes to shape the law and transform the legal standards by which future cases will be decided.

From OConnors isolated upbringing on the Lazy B ranch in Arizona through her time as a state legislator to her rise as a justice -- along the way confronting her own personal challenges and crises, including breast cancer -- Biskupic presents a vivid, astute depiction of the justice -- and of the woman beneath the black robe. In so doing, Sandra Day OConnor also provides an unprecedented look inside the exclusive, famously secretive High Court.

Well written
As an admirer of SDO for quite some time, this book opened me up to admire her even more. This book told me so many things that I never knew. It also explained her reasoning behind many of her decisions, both as a justice and in life. Worth the read.

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Heir of Autumn by Todd Fahnestock - Very Good Series

A young man forced into a fight for survival . . .
A concubine sorceress seduced into the ultimate test of will . . .
An enigmatic spy in love with a forbidden queen . . .
And a reawakened evil that could remake the world.

Introducing a major new talent, this riveting fantasy debut brings alive a richly imagined tale of brutal combat, sexual intrigue, and sinister magic in a world where one must always struggle to survive.

A bastion of freedom and justice in a brutal world, the city-state of Ohndarien is ruled by the Children of the Seasons, four brave men and women tested before the awesome Heartstone and sworn to place the needs of others before their own.

When Brophy, the Heir of Autumn, is falsely accused of murder, the city-state falls to treachery and deceit. Exiled to an enemy kingdom, Brophys only chance for survival lies in the deadly gladiatorial game of Nine Squares and the uncertain favors of its beautiful queen.

Meanwhile, enslaved by the brutal perfidy of her master, the young courtesan Shara must face her deepest fears and darkest desires if she is to free herself from the web of foul sorcery that ensnares her magic and her very soul. But as Ohndarien fights for justice, evil powers, lost for centuries, wake in the wilderness, and an ancient terror walks the world again.

Lyrical, powerful, and compelling, Heir of Autumn heralds the arrival of a brillant new voice in fantasy.

Very Good Series
I really enjoyed this entire series. It is a little dark but if you enjoy Martin, Abercrombie, Weeks, etc. then you will love these books.

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Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich - MIT blackjack

Semyon Dukach couldnt believe how easy the money was. In one weekend, the MIT math genius and his team of geeks had made $200,000 playing the blackjack tables in Las Vegas. They hadnt cheated. Instead, they had discovered one of humanitys greatest holy grails: a system to beat the casino. They had rendered obsolete the old saying that the house always wins. Dukach and his friends made millions during the 1990s playing blackjack in the worlds top casinos, right under the noses of pit bosses and security consultants who thought they had seen it all. Dukachs story is told in author Ben Mezrichs vividly narrated book Busting Vegas.

Mezrich, the author of previous bestsellers about MIT gamblers and a colorful Ivy League trader in Japan, tells how Dukachs crew used a system that Vegas had never seen before. Dukach, the son of Russian immigrants who grew up in the poorest neighborhoods of New Jersey and Houston, was determined to climb out of poverty and help his family. His system didnt involve the commonly used techniques of card counting. Posing as an arms dealer or dentist, Dukach deliberately sought out blackjack dealers with small hands or thin fingers who frequently didnt conceal the bottom card when they shuffled the cards. Dukach would often manage to get a glimpse at the bottom card. This was highly significant because it was the card the dealer would hand the player to cut the deck. Dukach had practiced a technique to insert the card in a precise spot in the deck and then make big bets when the card was dealt. Dukach and his team ended up barred from casinos, threatened at gunpoint, and beaten in Vegass notorious back rooms. This is a riveting yarn. —Alex Roslin

MIT blackjack
Vegas is an alternate reality. Reading this book it is sometimes hard to believe that the events described by Ben Mezrich occurred in real life - captivating read and a fascinating story of a MIT blackjack team on the run to outdo the casinos. The book reveals the three different strategies that the team employed to beat the casinos and their burly adventures and run-ins with the casinos themselves. It is a thriller.

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Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions by Ben Mezrich - awesome book!

Ugly Americans documents the Wild East of the mid-1990s, where young, brilliant, and hypercompetitive traders became hedge fund cowboys, manipulating loopholes in an outdated and inefficient Asian financial system to rake in millions. Using a concept called arbitrage, they made their fortunes mainly on minute shifts in stocks being sold on the Nikkei, the Japanese stock market, collapsing banks and nearly bankrupting the Japanese economy in the process. Other schemes were also concocted, most of which were technically legal, though certainly unethical. This true story revolves around John Malcolm, who, in exchange for anonymity, agreed to give Ben Mezrich all the access and information he needed to write this book. As a recent Princeton graduate in the mid-1990s, Malcolm accepted an undefined job offer from an American expatriate in Japan to work in the investments field. Though he had no prior experience, he facilitated 25 million dollars worth of trades on his first day on the job, and it just got more exciting from there. He soon joined a small group of expatriates, all in their twenties and mostly Ivy League graduates, who lived like rock stars, thriving on the stress and excitement of their jobs to create their own steroid versions of the American Dream half a world away. Mezrich tells this riveting story well, incorporating elements of the culture into his narrative, including the infamous and pervasive Japanese Water Trade, or sex business, romantic intrigue, and even run-ins with the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia. Though there is little real analysis of their financial dealings and how they ultimately changed the rules of finance in Asia, this entertaining page turner does offer a glimpse into a world little explored in print until now. --Shawn Carkonen

awesome book!
this book was really good -- I enjoyed it very well -- it made me feel like I had led an alternate life in japan raping the markets ;)

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Varieties of Religious Experience by William James - Missed The Point?

I am neither a theologian, nor a scholar learned in the history of religions, nor an anthropologist. Psychology is the only branch of learning in which I am particularly versed. To the psychologist the religious propensities of man must be at least as interesting as any other of the facts pertaining to his mental constitution. It would seem, therefore, as a psychologist, the natural thing for me would be to invite you to a descriptive survey of those religious propensities.

When William James went to the University of Edinburgh in 1901 to deliver a series of lectures on natural religion, he defined religion as the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine. Considering religion, then, not as it is defined by--or takes place in--the churches, but as it is felt in everyday life, he undertook a project that, upon completion, stands not only as one of the most important texts on psychology ever written, not only as a vitally serious contemplation of spirituality, but for many critics one of the best works of nonfiction written in the 20th century. Reading The Varieties of Religious Experience, it is easy to see why. Applying his analytic clarity to religious accounts from a variety of sources, James elaborates a pluralistic framework in which the divine can mean no single quality, it must mean a group of qualities, by being champions of which in alternation, different men may all find worthy missions. Its an intellectual call for serious religious tolerance--indeed, respect--the vitality of which has not diminished through the subsequent decades.

Missed The Point?
James was a pioneer in the fledgling field of psychology. He was also a philosopher and held an M.D. degree. In 1902, he was the first American to be invited to give one of the prestigous "Gifford Lectures on Natural Theology" at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. The lectures were given over the period of one academic year with the expectation that they would be edited and printed in book form. "Natural Theology" was then considered to be some concept of God based on scientific proof rather than so-called "miracles". "Theology" was an all-inclusive term that included psychology, cultural writings, politics, traditions and mythology, among other things, and it was not confined to Christian tradition. It just so happens that James was of a Christian background but considered himself a "pragmatist". Its slant is definitely psychological in nature and applicable to anyone having a religous bent.

It is easy to be blinded by the sublime quality of James's writing and flawless logic. "Varieties" is a masterpiece of genius but it is not the only book written by James. And it would be a mistake to believe that the whole of James's thinking is contained within it's pages.

By the time his lectures ended, people were literally hanging in the windows and clinging to the chandeliers to hear him speak. And they were not disappointed. After a year of lectures, James concluded that there are forces outside of ourselves that influence our actions.

James's point was not lost on either the listeners of the time or me. Aside from James's obvious genius, what are we to make of his conclusion that forces outside of ourselves influence our actions? We have yet to answer the "what", "how" and "why" posed by his conclusion. The book is not an end in itself. It raises too many vital questions of our existence that are in need of furher examination.

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in the 1940s by a man named Bill Wilson who believed that the only cure for alcoholism is helping other alcoholics to become sober, relying on a "higher power" in order to sustain sobriety. Wilson's book, "Alcoholics Anonymous" references only one authoritative source and that is the "Varieties of Religous Experience". Wilson made no comment about James's book other than to list it as his only reference. But it is clear why he did it. James's reference to a power outside of our own consciousness became the "higher power" of Wilson's philosophy.

This book is a "must read" for anyone, Christian or not, who is intellectually drawn to understand the "mystic" part of our humanity.

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