Product Description
The year is 2105;  Simoon Jintao, heir to the largest industrial megacorp in New Hong Kong, is called home suddenly from Oxford University by the unexplained disappearance of his father. In a hidden laboratory he finds inventions developed in secret by his father and a revelation that will change mankind forever.  

          When word of his discovery leaks out, government factions attempt to wrest the technologies from him.  Caught in a dangerous game of cat and mouse Simoon finds himself fighting for his life and the life of his wife and unborn child. Follow him through a world of intelligent avatars, ghosts and underworld assassins, into the shadowlands of another dimension where the deepest mysteries of existence are revealed.

Customer Reviews (1)

A Read that captures and keeps your attention
I picked this book because its syllabus caught my eye. The story exceeded the promise of the syllabus. On finishing it I immediately went in search of another novel by the same author.

The style of writing was somewhat different. Its made a hero out of the protagonist; he could do no wrong; he was able to handle all events with aplomb. Normally a reader might want more conflict in the characters, but, the way the plot and science/cosmology of it developed that was OK. The science/cosmology was the fetching thing for me.

I found the book sufficiently intriguing to prompt me take a swing at science fiction. I am ready to be cosmotic, wave as many particles as I can and include some of my moderately political discourse into it as well. Thank you Mr Hall for the challenge.

This being his first, finding no subsequent novel, I am now hoping for another offering from Jack Philip Hall.

Mike Donohue ... Read more

Product Description

Gaining access to high-quality data is a vital necessity in knowledge-based decision making. But data in its raw form often contains sensitive information about individuals. Providing solutions to this problem, the methods and tools of privacy-preserving data publishing enable the publication of useful information while protecting data privacy. Introduction to Privacy-Preserving Data Publishing: Concepts and Techniques presents state-of-the-art information sharing and data integration methods that take into account privacy and data mining requirements.

The first part of the book discusses the fundamentals of the field. In the second part, the authors present anonymization methods for preserving information utility for specific data mining tasks. The third part examines the privacy issues, privacy models, and anonymization methods for realistic and challenging data publishing scenarios. While the first three parts focus on anonymizing relational data, the last part studies the privacy threats, privacy models, and anonymization methods for complex data, including transaction, trajectory, social network, and textual data.

This book not only explores privacy and information utility issues but also efficiency and scalability challenges. In many chapters, the authors highlight efficient and scalable methods and provide an analytical discussion to compare the strengths and weaknesses of different solutions.

Product Description

Drawn from the US National Science Foundation’s Symposium on Next Generation of Data Mining and Cyber-Enabled Discovery for Innovation (NGDM 07), Next Generation of Data Mining explores emerging technologies and applications in data mining as well as potential challenges faced by the field.

Gathering perspectives from top experts across different disciplines, the book debates upcoming challenges and outlines computational methods. The contributors look at how ecology, astronomy, social science, medicine, finance, and more can benefit from the next generation of data mining techniques. They examine the algorithms, middleware, infrastructure, and privacy policies associated with ubiquitous, distributed, and high performance data mining. They also discuss the impact of new technologies, such as the semantic web, on data mining and provide recommendations for privacy-preserving mechanisms.

The dramatic increase in the availability of massive, complex data from various sources is creating computing, storage, communication, and human-computer interaction challenges for data mining. Providing a framework to better understand these fundamental issues, this volume surveys promising approaches to data mining problems that span an array of disciplines.

Product Description
As a single mother to a growing son, you take on many roles: coach, chef, cheerleader, buddy, housekeeper, teacher, disciplinarian, and nurturer.

The Single Mother's Guide to Raising Remarkable Boys helps you juggle all these roles with aplomb. You'll also learn how to help your son:

• Succeed at school
• Excel on the sports field
• Find an appropriate male role model
• Socialize and combat peer pressure
• Deal with sex, drugs, and video games

Customer Reviews (3)

Good read but a little outdated
I bought this book and read it quickly as it was an easy read. It seems a little out dated as it is from the 90's era. There were some good suggestions however, and some things that I will definitely be doing with my son. Good luck to those other single mothers out there.

a parenting book that gets it right
What a beautiful book! The Single Mother's Guide to Raising Remarkable Boys is one of the finest new parenting books that I have seen in a while.The balanced and accurate summary of parenting research is a breath of fresh air.The advice is sensible and well grounded in both research and the experiences of parents. The affirmation of single mothers and the wonderful children they raise is overdue.An engaging writing style also makes the book a good read.

The Single Mother's Guide to Raising Remarkable Boys resonated with me both professionally and personally.Professionally, I have three advanced degrees in behavioral sciences and most of my research has involved parenting and child development.On a personal note, my own mother raised three boys and two girlsas a single mother for many years.From both the professional and personal perspectives I must say that these authors got it right!

I can't think of any parent who wouldn't benefit from the view of parenthood presented here.

David Cournoyer, Ph.D.

Practical, Relevant & Very Helpful
This is an excellent book and the title tells you exactly where the author excels. Written for busy, stressed-out single mothers who are trying to understand (?) and raise boys --- this book is hugely helpful.

After a long time when there didn't seem to be any books for us single moms --- now there is hope. I highly recommend this book to any woman who is raising sons, especially pre-adolescents or adolescents.

I also recommend the book listed below, which is here on Amazon too.

Lauren Hodge
Apple Valley, California

I also highly recommend:
Raising Great Kids on Your Own: A Guide and Companion for Every Single Parent ... Read more

Product Description
Defiant children can be abrasive, irritating, and aggressive, intentionally provoking adults, defying authority, and antagonizing siblings. Children exhibiting defiant behavior exist on a spectrum ranging anywhere from spoiled to those who meet the diagnostic criteria for Oppositional Defiant Disorder. For the millions of families desperate to fix a situation that is out of control, this book offers supportive and instructive techniques proven to move children from defiance to compliance.

Parenting a Defiant Child lets readers know that the problem is not their fault, and that by using the right strategies, in time, the problem can be successfully resolved. Parents, teachers, family counselors--anyone facing the challenge of raising or working with a disruptive child--will find the encouragement and guidance they so desperately need to help the children in their lives overcome their conduct problems and regain a much-needed sense of balance and joy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

easy to read
i really like this book. it`s easy to read and gives great ideas for a busy mom to try and help with the argueing the book is worth its weight! thank you for caring. ... Read more

Product Description
This edition of this popular text continues to build on four major marketing themes: building and managing profitable customer relationships, building and managing strong brands to create brand equity, harnessing new marketing technologies in the digital age, and marketing in a socially responsible way around the globe. Thoroughly updated and streamlined, "Principles of Marketing" tells the stories that reveal the drama of modern marketing, reflecting the major trends and forces that are impacting this dynamic and ever-changing field. Topics include: the marketing environment, managing information, consumer & business buyer behavior, segmentation, targeting, and positioning, branding strategies, distribution channels, advertising and sales promotion, direct marketing, and the global marketplace. An excellent tool for anyone in marketing and sales, whether self- or corporate- employed. ... Read more

Product Description
J.W. Jackson is amazed to discover that the girl he met on the Vineyard's South Beach is Cricket Callahan, daughter of the vacationing President of the United States. And he's shocked when the Chief Executive agrees to let the spirited teen remain with J.W. and wife Zee. But when a corpse inconveniently pops up out of nowhere, J.W. and his lady love are the only ones who can protect the feisty First Kid from a vengeful killer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

a solid read
Philip Craig has written a good book.It is one of a series and this is the only one that I have read.

This mystery involves the daughter of he President of the United States who just happens to meet the hero of the story on the beach, and then in his truck, and then in his home.

The mysteries go on from there but you will find that it is very readable and interesting.

I enjoyed it.

J. Robert Ewbank, author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"

Fine Art of Babysitting
J.W. Jackson meets a teenage girl on the beach while fishing for bluefish. The girl is fascinated by the fine art of fishing and J.W. teaches her to land his catch and makes a new friend.
But the friend is the daughter of president of the United States who is eluding her Secret Service watchdogs. Cricket Callahan has been receiving threating letters for over a year, which began during the first family's previous vacation stay on the island.
J.W. and Zee end up with two Virginia cousins who want to taste all the delights of the island as private citizens. It takes some suspicious questions and fancy moves for J.W. and his bride to provide for their sudden quests.
As usual Philip R. Craig gave his fans an enjoyable read full of allisions, crime detection, and island lore.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalists WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

A Deadly Vineyard Holiday
Nice easy transaction, book was in better condition than described.Highly recommend this seller.

Presidential protection, JW style
The President and family are vacationing on the Vineyard.But the President's daughter is itching to get away from the formalities of her life, and wants to be a regular teenager.Upon shedding her Secret Service protection, she meets JW fishing on the beach and strikes up a friendship.Then she hides in the back of his Land Cruiser after her agents show up, and manages to invade stately Jefferson manor.Soon, JW works out a deal with the Secret Service to give her a Roman holiday, but danger is of course, around the corner.JW gets the sniff that someone on the inside is not on the up and up. And a mysterious photographer is snooping around JW's house.JW has a mystery to solve, while he takes it upon himself to do the job the Secret Service can't do, protect the President's daughter.

This is a fun read, another excellent entry in the Vineyard series.

A decent read with a ridiculous plot
I've read nearly all of the Vineyard series, and they've all been fairly enjoyable...J.W. is an interesting enough character (even if he is sometimes sort of lame), and the descriptions of the Vineryard are nice, even tho I've never been anywhere near the island myself.They all have somewhat elementary plotlines, and they usually hold up to any scrutiny- unfortunately, this isn't one of them.

We're supposed to buy the premise that ol' J.W. is fishing and up comes the president's daughter, and then we're supposed to buy the plotline that the daughter comes and stays with J.W. and Zee for the week?Come on, this is just a little TOO absurd.

While in danger throughout the novel, we're supposed to buy into the premise that they take time to go to the beach and hang out as if nothing is wrong?J.W. says to the president's daughter- sure, you can go out anywhere you want, we'll tell everyone you're my cousin named Debby, and we'll hide your true identity with some makeup and a big floppy hat and some glasses!

Even when the president's daughter knows she's in danger, she acts as if nothing is wrong- 'hey, forget this danger stuff, let's go meet the boy I met and go to the beach!'And J.W. is quick to say- sure, why not...let's forget the danger we're all in and go to the beach, I'm sure nothing could ever happen to us there.

It's all too absurd to buy into (even the reasoning revealed at the end is laughable), which hurts the book a little, but as I said, overall it was enjoyable.It's a fairly quick read, so I guess that helped.

For the series overall, I just HAVE to point out a few aspects that bug me to death when I read any of the books in the series...
The one plus to this book is the fact that J.W. and Zee haven't yet had kids (trust me, read the other books and tell me the kids aren't totally annoying, and they completely make J.W. lame as a tough guy/semi-detective)- I get SO sick and tired of reading Craig's annoying line that exists in EVERY book with the kids- "Diana, the huntress" is always looking for food, or whatever he says exactly.And, sometimes you just want to scream when you hear lame lines from J.W. like- "yum!" "manna from heaven!: and "delish!" every 2 seconds.He seems to be a semi-cool guy one second, then the next second you want to slap him.

All of that, and you have to continually wonder how on earth J.W. makes enough money to do nothing but fish, sail his boat, loaf around, and make his lavish dinners.lunches/breakfasts,I can assure you that no police pension allows for the laid back, never worry about money lifestyle Jackson lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Troppo
Highly Recommend this book. Very light read, nice to flick through, great pics. It has a nice range of their projects although not much of their recent work. Its pretty much the only book/information you can get on Troppo so if your a fan of their stuff then its a must have. ... Read more

Product Description
In a critically acclaimed, well-researched attack on legal regulations and bureaucratic red tape, a corporate lawyer shows how rules interfere with common sense and have taken away citizens' power to make decisions. Reprint. National ad/promo. NYT. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (61)

Death of Common Sense
Who has such a high opinion of themselves that they would do a video review.

Social Structures are Too Big
R.I.P. Common Sense
Philip Howard's book is well-written and entertaining.His central insight -- that you can't regulate or run things well enough without human judgment and negotiation - is really important.It's Godel's Incompleteness Theorem applied to human relations.Godel proved that no mathematical system could answer every math question: there would always be things you couldn't decide. Well, if you can't find all the answers about numbers, you'll never find them with people, because people go out of their way to create exceptions to the rules.

So we can't do with inflexible rules. We need to restore the human element to our systems of social control. But Howard seems to lose contact with reality by not realizing that there have been valid reasons for setting up all these legalistic systems.Take Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for example. Howard rightly attacks its rigidity and nit-picking, but it was set up because employers didn't care as much for workers' safety as for their profit margins, and they still don't.

OSHA goes way overboard with petty and inflexible rules, but the alternative would be to have inspectors responsible for only one or two plants, who could form relationships with both management and workers, who actually cared about workers' well-being and had the power to enforce changes.This would require a much bigger and better-trained OSHA, and there would still be the problem of inspectors' being bought off over time. I think most big corporations would rather have the system the way it is than to cede inspectors any real power.(Of course, most of those factories are gone by now, to places where there is no OSHA.)

It's the same thing with the ridiculously complicated contracting procedures governments use, explored in Chapter 1 of Howard's book.They were put in place because of real and rife corruption. Were they the best solution? Obviously not, but what's the alternative?You would need a system where the bureaucrats were free to act, but somehow restrained from corruption. In other words, you would need a system where people actually knew each other and had to answer to each other.

I think that's the real problem Howard has discovered. The systems are just too big and too impersonal.You can't run them by face-to-face human interaction, because there are too many people involved. What we need is smaller, more human-scale systems.E.F. Schumacher explained this pretty well in Small is Beautiful.We really need to break things up here; everything's too big.

There's also the problem that our federal and state legislatures are filled with lawyers. Too many lawyers hold legislative office, so naturally their answer to every problem is going to be a law, and the more complicated the law, the more they like it.At the same time, powerful special interests push for these unwieldy regulations that government is happy to produce. Each round of legislating just sets up another round of lobbying by the representatives of the rich and powerful, trying to change the system in their favor.

Bottom line - it's a mess, and there's no easy fix.IMO, you would have to break the country and many of the largest institutions (e.g. banks, military) up into much smaller pieces, before you could even start to re-animate the corpse of common sense.
Diabetes: Sugar-Coated Crisis: Who Gets it, Who Profits and How to Stop it

Attack of the Wheelchairs and other Horrors from New York
Once upon a time, a wise king ruled a wondrous land called NewDeal. He wielded power with efficiency and cut through wasteful red tape by giving all of his workers the discretion to make decisions without fearing for their jobs. Then along came a bad man with a black moustache who said that people in wheel-chairs deserve access to public buildings. The evil lawyer filed a lawsuit, and the Supreme Court ruled that legal process was as important as efficiency, and King Roosevelt's NewDeal turned to brass, all of its buildings and all its people forever frozen in legal limbo. Nothing could be built; nothing accomplished; and government employees feared for their jobs and refused to make decisions and the trains no longer ran on time.

Howard, a lawyer himself and a government employee in charge of assisting New York City's development projects, blames the loss of his Camelot on a modern obsession with "absolutist reason" chiefly implemented by the chief culprit of his tale--the federal Administrative Procedure Act. His book is a long screed against what he calls "process," which he insists undermined or halted many superior construction projects in New York. Howard makes many good points. He legitimately observes that "the law is perfectly clear, but impossible to know," due to its complexity and the fact that no one is empowered to act without being second-guessed and approved. He correctly repudiates the "illusion of perfectibility," which he accuses tort lawyers of seeking to enforce. Our legal system has in many ways become "regulatory incarceration." And the law does enforce conformity and "the norm," suppressing diversity and innovation. But that is its nature. The obsession with personal legal rights that he blames for this predicament did not begin in the 1950's and 1960's, as Howard believes, transforming a pursuit of strict equality into "a government subsidy with a blank check." Rather these rights are implicit in the ideas of the Enlightenment and flow naturally from the initial concepts of equality of opportunity to the modern notion of equality of result for the simple reason that people are not born equal and therefore equal opportunity is an illusion.

Howard may as well have titled his book "Attack of the Wheel-chairs." For, like many doctrinaire conservatives, his exemplars of evil are the disabled, and especially disabled children, who are "lording it over" the rest of us, no doubt to the surprise of the average reader. "The disabled lobby is waging warfare against every other citizen," he wails. It is they who bring building projects to a halt. Mothers of disabled children are bankrupting schools with their unreasonable demands, he continues, implying that it is a waste of space to allow a crippled child into a class-room. What Howard omits to mention, however, is that the parents of crippled children are not only required by law to bring their kids to school, but pay the same taxes as everyone else to support those schools. In Howard's world, however, the unreasonable mother is to blame. And, amazingly, there is no recognition of the fact that a few parking spaces and elevators is all that most disabled have in this life, bread crumbs tossed at them to relieve society's guilt, while they continue to be stone-walled in terms of employment, education, and social acceptance.

Similarly, although he repeats the common canard that medical doctors are on the verge of abandoning their profession due to tort lawsuits, he cannot cite a single instance of this having actually occurred. This reviewer has met dozens of ex-teachers, ex-accountants, ex-professionals of all stripes, even ex-lawyers - but never an ex-doctor. Or even a poor one. Until then, Mr. Howard, please dispense with the tired "lawyers are driving doctors out of business" myth, which is somehow always dragged out as the second installment of "the disabled are ruining the country" argument. He calls the disabled lobby "potent" for passing the ADA, but the ADA was mere window-dressing, quickly gutted by the Supreme Court and rendered meaningless and largely unenforceable. When the majority of Congress is in wheel-chairs, that will be time when the disabled are "lording it over the rest of us." Not before.

In line with these views, Howard condemns wide streets, elevator regulations, and anti-single-room occupancy codes. But wide streets are safe streets; elevators are not merely convenient but essential to allowing the elderly and the disabled to live independently; and no one wants a return to crowded tenements that formerly acted as magnets for crime and disease in every city in the U.S. Do these drive up the cost of housing? Certainly. But the alternative is more crime, hospitals, and prisons, which drive up the cost of everything. Just as the alternative to legal process, which, after all, derives not from the APA but from the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, may not be greater efficiency, but greater poverty, disease, and gulags.

Why is it that extremists of both Left and Right, even while unable to agree on anything else, always seem to agree that the guy in the wheel-chair is to blame for all of society's woes? From the Right: the disabled are an inconvenience, disrupting society and unjustly forcing "normal" people to change to selfishly suit themselves, instead of dying for having lost the struggle for existence. From the Left: the inability to engage in "honest labor" makes the guy in the wheel-chair lazy and evil and by definition a parasite and capitalist.

Finally, as for government employees being "risk-averse" and fearing lawsuits--what could be more laughable? Years of this reviewer's experience have shown the typical government employee to be abusive, capricious, contemptuous, arbitrary, and utterly unconcerned with whether they are overstepping legal bounds or whether they may get sued, secure in the knowledge that they cannot be fired, no matter what. They break the law with joyful impunity and laughingly defy the public to do anything about it. With the most powerful and influential law firms defending government agencies, their confidence is well-placed. I've seen teachers force left-handed students to write with their right-hands, shout at them and give them F's, then receive a raise for doing such a fine job. If the APA did not exist, it would have to be invented to halt such abuse. If government burocrats had unbridled discretion, nothing at all would be built, for anyone. Instead of "The Death of Common Sense," perhaps this book should be called "The Triumph of Common Prejudice."

Quick Read, Solid info
If you want to know read it, and then remember that it was written over a decade ago.Look around and open your eyes. . things sure as hell aren't getting any better.If you are interested in waking up, this isn't a bad place to start.

Still No Resurrection for Common Sense
Philip K. Howard's well documented commentary on everything that's so wrong in America; thanks in large part to everything that's so wrong with the legal system; is even more compelling 13 years after its initial publication.With the current state of affairs in ObamaNation, a resurrection of common sense doesn't seem to be forthcoming any time soon; and that's definitely cause for concern.

Clearly, we have the legal system to blame for much of the ill-advised behavior we see throughout the great abyss known as corporate America.To the typical corporate CEO, "lawsuit avoidance" drives much of the decision making process throughout their dysfunctional & paranoid organizations.This type of mentality creates a fear-based culture of management; with everyone trying to stay out of trouble, micro-management & backstabbing proliferate.In this type of environment, employee morale is typically low, as is productivity.

Certainly, the legal system's failure to embrace "common sense" as a foundation in their recent judgments has created much of the mess; from wrongful termination & discrimination claims to miscellaneous negligence claims; there seems to be no end to the madness.

Sooner or later, the pendulum has to swing back in the direction of common sense; let's hope it happens sooner, rather than later.



... Read more

Product Description
Widely hailed for its practical and enjoyable style, this comprehensive introduction to modern marketing shows students how to apply the basic concepts and practices of modern marketing as they are used in a wide variety of settings--in product and service firms, consumer and business markets, profit and nonprofit organizations, and small and large businesses. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

What a great deal
For less than $2.00 it was a book one of my graduate professors recommended to review marketing subjects. What a fabulous deal, I was so pleased to find it at that price. I received it right away.

BEST I'VE READ
Books like these are used for reference and do there job well but this book is different. Its fun to read for somebody who is into business. Why? Well because it is so up-to date, features ad campaigns that are still in magazines, refers to interesting real life examples and case studies from large multinational businesses to small family firms.

Its written well, it highlights the main points on the sides of the page for quick reference but the only criticism is the index isn't very well laid out but you get used to it.

I honestly find my self reading the case studies when i'm bored, so this is like a fiction/ reference book.

On the reference front it contains pretty much everything you need to know for an introduction to undergraduate marketing but be warned it doesn't go that much further. If you are studying for a course which goes into great depth about marketing this isn't for you, it just covers all the basic aspects. Layout is great and the book itself is quite bulky, so its best not to carry around.

I have also got the European edition which is very good, the case studies are different and its slightly smaller and much much cheaper. The cost of this book is astronomical, but it could be the difference between getting a good grade or a mediocre one.

Great Source in Marketing Science
This book is one of the best marketing books. The content of book is very comprehensive and embellished with cases that help you better understand the marketing theory. Especially, the most fascinating aspect of the book is its chapters about INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY and its impacts on the marketing concepts.

You can buy this book even for its excellent cases. I strongly recommend this book to all MBA students whose interested field is marketing.

Complete, Credible, Readable Marketing Masterguide
Despite being nearly 1000 pages long, this is one book that I often travel with on business, due to the completeness and accessibility of the content.

This encyclopedic, incredible resource includes chapters andmany case studies on:

* the marketing process: marketing in a changingworld- satisfying human needs; marketing and society- social responsibilityand ethics; strategic marketing planning.

* the marketing setting: themarketing environment; the global marketplace; market information andresearch.

* buyer behaviour- consumer markets; business markets; andbuyer behaviour.

* core strategy- market segmentation and targeting;positioning; building customer satisfaction through quality, value andservice; creating competitive advantage: competitor analysis; and marketingstrategies.

* product- designing products- new product development andlifecycle strategies; designing products- products, brands, packaging andservices; marketing services.

* price- pricing policies- considerationsand approaches; pricing products- strategies.

*promotions- promotingproducts- communications & promotion strategy; promoting products-advertising, sales promotion and PR; promoting products- personal sellingand sales management;

* place- placing products- distribution channels& logistics management; placing products- retailing andwholesaling,.

It's well written, well supported with references,attractively illustrated, and easy to read at chapter level down to sidebarlevel (I've never read from end to end in one sitting!). The onlycomplaint, is that because of the broad and deep coverage beyondtraditional marketing, newer breaking ideas are not covered.

Overallhighly recommended, particularly with a slimmer latest "fad" business/technology/ marketing book to confirm that you are not missing anythingthat may add value to your organisation or clients.

[Refers to EuropeanEdition ISBN 0131659030 by Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders, Wong 1996 ]

just i need this book urgently
i borrowed it from a liberary to make my search but i lost it before i finish my search and i need it very much ... Read more