lex & yacc

Book Description

This book shows you how to use two Unix utilities, lex and yacc, in program development. These tools help programmers build compilers and interpreters, but they also have a wider range of applications. The second edition contains completely revised tutorial sections for novice users and reference sections for advanced users. This edition is twice the size of the first and has an expanded index. The following material has been added:

Each utility is explained in a chapter that covers basic usage and simple, stand-alone applications
How to implement a full SQL grammar, with full sample code
Major MS-DOS and Unix versions of lex and yacc are explored in depth, including AT&T lex and yacc, Berkeley yacc, Berkeley/GNU Flex, GNU Bison, MKS lex and yacc, and Abraxas PCYACC

Customer Reviews:

A good book to have when using lex & yacc.......2006-12-14

I like this book because it is a good compromise between lex & yacc man pages and the theory found in books such as the Dragon book. You will get valuable information about the how and why of the tools that will help you to produce a quality grammar without being overwhelmed by details.

Not a Mind Meld.......2006-08-23

To me a great book flows into your mind, magically providing the information in the order you need it. Of course it depends on whose reading it, but this book, though well worth the 96 cents bargain bin price I paid for it, does not build the constructs in my head the way I'd like.

Authors should always proofread their books with novices, not the experts. Experts fill in the gaps as they read and don't notice if the logic is missing a link. In chap 2, "Using Lex", there is the sentence: "Lex itself doesn't produce an executable program; instead it translates the lex specification into a file containing a C routine called yylex(). Your program calls yylex() to run the lexer."

I waited with baited breath for what it means to "run the lexer". Does it return a token each time you call it? Does it analyze all the input then return? The text ignores this detail and merrily goes on into other details. The chapter is called "Using Lex", but the authors omit how you use it! Of course you can scrounge around in the examples and finally root it out, but a book should paint a crystal clear picture, get you oriented, then drop in the details to build your understanding.

The book looks so promising, sort of like the beauty of the original "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan and Ritchie, but disappoints in it's fragmented exposition.

I did take a compiler course with the "dragon book" years ago and write a parser, so I'm not totally in the dark, but I expected this book to lay the subject out in a much clearer way. But it is still a good book to have and read "offline".

I hope the authors take a crack at another edition and explain it all better.

Very good guide to an old but useful programming tool.......2006-06-26

Yacc (yet another compiler compiler) and its companion lex (lexical analyzer) are primarily intended to allow quick and easy development of small special-purpose languages. The common mistake is assuming that they are only useful for creating compilers for massively complex eccentric languages. This is not the case, though you could no doubt use them for such a purpose.

Lex and Yacc are commonly used together. Yacc uses a formal grammar to parse an input stream, something which lex cannot do using simple regular expressions since lex is limited to simple finite state automata. However, yacc cannot read from a simple input stream - it requires a series of tokens. Lex is often used to provide yacc with these tokens. As a result, building an application in lex and yacc is often used as an exercise in classes on programming languages and the theory of computation to demonstrate key concepts.

The book starts out building a simple character-driven calculator, and then moves on to build a menu generation language that produces C code that uses the standard "curses" library to draw menus on the screen. The final application is a SQL parser which includes a quick overview of both relational databases and SQL. Some readers will dislike the fact that Lex and Yacc are only capable of generating C code. Thus, the logical conclusion is that you must be able to write C code in order to use these tools. While it would be nice if the sections about the menu generation language and the SQL parser had some information about how to do typechecking and other such things, this book is not about writing a compiler/interpreter using Lex & Yacc. Rather it is just a beginner's guide.

The sections about shift/reduce and reduce/reduce conflicts are especially helpful, as are the sections going over the differences and caveats relating to the major versions of lex and yacc such as AT&T's Lex & YACC, GNU's Flex & Bison, and Berkeley's Yacc. In summary, if you've never used lex or yacc before and think they might be useful tools for you, and you already know the C programming language, this is a handy book to have.

Delivers what is say it will.......2006-06-24

This book is a little out-dated. That is fine, though - this book goes over all the essential proponents of Lex and Yacc and Bison and FLEX and all the other variations ... which you will certainly know a lot more about by the end of this book. This books enabled me to read FLEX input from a c-string, which has played a role in a few of my projects. It is great when you just need a quick reminder of the syntax is the tools. This book does not go over how the programs work, which is a good thing, because that would make the book more oriented towards Finite Autonoma and Context Sensive Languages - leave that sort of thing to autonoma theory and compiler design. This is an excellent reference, so buy it if you really need it.

A very nice intro.......2005-08-23

About the previous review: if the book is "OK", why two stars? Nevertheless, the poster is correct in that the book by Alex Schreiner, Introduction to Compiler Construction With Unix, is very good, and much more detailed and practical than Lex and Yacc by Levine. Which doesn't make the latter a bad book: I think it's the best book to read first; it's simple, friendly, and -- as far as it goes -- very enlightening.

Knowledge Management (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series)

Average customer rating:

Extraordinary Guidance for Practitioners
If KM seems expensive, try ignorance
Knowledge Management with practical applications
Knowledge Management, a layperson's perspective
Need to know vs, Nice to know

Knowledge Management (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series)
Harvard Business Review
Manufacturer: MCGRAW-HILL/ TAB
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0875848818

Book Description

Leading Minds and Landmark Ideas In An Easily Accessible Format

From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series delivers the fundamental information today's professionals need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world.

The eight articles in Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management highlight the leading-edge thinking and practical applications that are defining the field of knowledge management. Includes Peter Drucker's prophetic The Coming of the New Organization and Ikujiro Nonaka's Knowledge-Creating Company. A Harvard Business Review Paperback.

Customer Reviews:

Extraordinary Guidance for Practitioners.......2005-06-04

This is another great book in the HBR paperback series. There are several very helpful article/chapters in this book; each one taken alone is worth more than the cost of the book.

The article by Argyris, "Teaching Smart People to Learn," is quite insightful. Argyris explains why smart, highly trained professionals find it difficult to learn from their mistakes and failures.

In David Garvin's article/chapter, he talks about what real people in real organizations are doing to build learning organizations.

John Seely Brown discusses the importance of new innovations found in "how work is done" in his chapter.

Add to these helpful chapters, the work of Drucker, Nonaka, and Kleiner, and this is a must-have for practitioners.

Michael Beitler
Author of "Strategic Organizational Learning"

If KM seems expensive, try ignorance.......2004-09-21

I read this book when it was first published in 1998 and recently re-read it, curious to see how well it has held up since then. It has done so to a remarkable extent.

Again, I am reminded of Derek Bok's observation "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

This is one in a series of several dozen volumes which comprise the "Harvard Business Review Paperback Series." Each offers direct, convenient, and inexpensive access to the best thinking on the given subject in articles originally published by the Harvard Business Review. I strongly recommend all of the volumes in the series. The individual titles are listed at this Web site: www.hbsp.harvard.edu. The authors of various articles are among the world's most highly regarded experts on the given subject. All of the volumes have been carefully edited. An Executive Summary introduces each selection. Supplementary commentaries are also provided in most of the volumes, as is an "About the Contributors" section which usually includes suggestions of other sources which some readers may wish to explore.

In this volume, we are provided with a variety of perspectives on knowledge management: Peter F. Drucker on "The Coming of the New Organization," Ikujiro Nonaka on "The Knowledge-Creating Company," David A. Garvin on "Building a Learning Organization," Chris Argyris on "Teaching Smart People How to Learn," Dorothy Leonard and Susaan Straus on "Putting Your Company's Whole Brain to work," Art Kleiner and George Roth on "How to Make Experience Your Company's Best Teacher," John Seely Brown on "Research That Reinvents the Corporation," and James Brien Quinn, Philip Anderson, and Sydney Finkelstein on "Managing Professional Intellect: Making the Most of the Best." Listing the article titles correctly indicate the nature and scope of the specific subjects offered.

Quite true, some of the material is dated and inevitably so, given the elapsed time since the articles were published in the Harvard Business Review. However, in my opinion, the principles advocated and the core strategies recommended remain relevant to the contemporary marketplace. For example, Drucker notes that "to remain competitive -- maybe even to survive -- businesses will have to convert themselves into organizations of knowledge specialists." Garvin presents an especially informative analysis of Xerox's six-step problem-solving process which addresses questions to be answered, expansion/divergence issues, contraction/convergence issues, and "next steps" after implementation. Leonard and Straus rigorously examine the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator process, including within their narrative a brilliant overview of the MBTI©. Indeed, readers are provided with rock-solid material throughout each article.

For less than the cost of breakfast in an upscale Manhattan restaurant, each volume in this series provides an intellectual feast. It remains for each reader to determine, of course, which of the volumes will be most nutritious to her or his appetite. Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Carla O'Dell's If Only We Knew What We Know: The Transfer of Internal Knowledge and Best Practice, Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline and The Dance of Change, Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak's What's the Big Idea?: Creating and Capitalizing on the Best New Management Thinking and also their Working Knowledge, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton's The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action, and Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi's The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation.

Knowledge Management with practical applications.......2003-04-18

Excelente libro que proporciona las bases suficientes sobre la administración del conocimiento, además de tener como respaldo el prestigio de una casa de estudios como es la Universidad de Harvard.

Lo recomiendo ampliamente.

Knowledge Management, a layperson's perspective.......2001-11-02

Knowledge Management, published by Harvard Business School Press, is a compilation of articles excerpted from the Harvard Business Review covering a period from 1988-1997. The articles in general focus on the way organizations can acquire, use, and maintain knowledge in order to remain on the cutting edge of their fields. The underlying message of this book, expressed by Peter F. Drucker in "The Coming of the New Organization (page 1)," is that future organizations must take advantage of technology to collect and track data so that data can be translated into useful information.

The manner in which companies acquire knowledge from data can vary. Ikujiro Nonaka in his article "The Knowledge Creating Company (page 21)" provides a general approach. Nonaka suggests that creating new knowledge requires, in addition to the processing of objective information, tapping into the intuitions insights and hunches of individual employees and then making it available for use in the whole organization. Within this framework is an understanding of two types of knowledge: tacit and explicit. Both of these have to exist in an organization and exchange between and within each type is needed for creation of new knowledge. Another point in Nonaka's article is that the creation of new knowledge is not limited to one department or group but can occur at any level. It requires a system that encourages frequent dialogue and communication. Similar but more defined ideas are presented in David Garvin's "Building a Learning Organization (page 47)."

Garvin's approach focuses on the importance of having an organization that learns. Garvin defines a learning organization as one that is "skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights (page 51)." He describes five activities/skills that are the foundation for learning organizations. These are systematic problem solving, experimentation, and review of past experiences, learning from others, and transferring knowledge.

"Teaching Smart People How to Learn (page 81)" by Chris Argyris, deals with the way individuals within an organization can block the acquisition of new knowledge because of the way they reason about their behavior. In order to foster learning behavior in all employees, an organization must encourage productive reasoning. One caution is that use of productive reasoning can be threatening and actually hampers the process of learning if not implemented throughout the whole organization.

Leonard and Straus in "Putting Your Company's Whole Brain to Work (page 109)," address another way in which knowledge can be acquired. They identify two broad categories: left brained and right brained individuals, with different approaches to the same concept based on cognitive differences. Within these categories, there is great potential for conflict, which can stifle the creative process. However these different perspectives are important for full development of a new concept. Innovative companies should keep a balance of these different personality types to avoid stagnation and to encourage development of new ideas. The management of the cognitive types in a way that is productive for the company occurs through the process of creative abrasion.

One can surmise from the articles in general that data and information are valuable if they can be used to maintain the knowledge base or provide the basis for acquiring new knowledge. The organization that creates new knowledge encourages the following in its employees: creativity, a commitment to the goals of the organization, self-discipline, self-motivation, and individual exploration and identification of behaviors that may be barriers to learning. Cognitive preferences should be recognized and used to the companies' advantage. Finally, companies can learn from the best practices of others and from their customers. After knowledge is acquired, it can be disseminated for use throughout the organization and maintained in different ways.

One key method to maintain knowledge repeated in several articles is the importance of an environment that fosters innovation. Quinn et al, in "Managing Professional Intellect: Making the Most of the Best (page 181)," describe this as creating a culture of self-motivated creativity within an organization. There are several ways to do this: recruitment of the best for that field, forcing intensive early development (exposing new employees early to complex problems they have to solve), increasing professional challenges and rigorous evaluations.

Another way to maintain and use knowledge is through pioneering research, described by Brown in "Research that reinvents the Corporation (page 153)." In this process companies can combine basic research practices, with its new and fresh solutions, and applied research to the company's most pressing problems. Dissemination of new knowledge can occur by letting the employees experience the new innovation and so own it. As mentioned in the article by Nonaka, creation of a model that represents the new information is a way for transfer to the rest of the organization. Also the knowledge from the professional intellect within an organization can be transferred into the organization's systems, databases and operating technologies and so made available to others within the organization. An example of this is Merryl Lynch, which uses a database of regularly updated information to link its 18,000 agents.

Yet another tool for disseminating information within an organization is the learning history, described by Kleiner and Roth in "How to Make Experience Your Company's Best Teacher (page 137)." This makes use of the ages old community practice of storytelling to pass on lessons and traditions. The learning history collects data from a previous experience with insight from different levels of employees involved and puts it together in the form of a story that can be used in discussion groups within the organization. In companies where this has been used, it builds trust, provides an opportunity for collective reflection, and can be an effective way to transfer knowledge from one part of the company to another. In addition, incentives in the form of a report in response to the new innovation and achievement awards encourages employees to learn and helps with the dissemination of information.

Need to know vs, Nice to know.......2000-07-06

Having recently moved into the KM area I thought this book would be a 'must read'....but as anither reviewer pointed out if you have been keeping in touch with KM from the beginning (or whatever , from '96) would not find anything earth-shattering (that's the tacit selling job of the HBR logo, right?) in the compilation.

We all have heard about Drucker's "knowledge workers" and Nonaka's "Creation of Knowledge" and Argyris and his "teaching smart people" and Dorothy Leonard's "whole organisation brain" theory ad nauseum ad infinitum!

Customer Reviews:

Update drastically overdue.......2007-08-25

While I consider this book one of the cornerstones of BMET education, a comprehensive update is very overdue. In addition to this edition, I also posess the first edition of the Brown and Carr book, and while that edition is considerably smaller, most of the information, figures, and photographs are reproduced in the fourth edition.
Granted, much of the information is still valid, but it does not truly represent the state of the field today. Their cause would be helped if they showed more accurate representations of what constitutes standard equipment of today. Additionally the authors spend a valuable amount of time explaining the theories behind measurement methods and electronic theories, the technology described is invariably that of the 1970s with little time or attention spent on what is in use now.
An aspiring Biomedical Equipment Technician should read this book, but should bear in mind that it will only go so far in preparing them for the modern day BMET field. I would love to see Brown and Carr throw out all of the figures and photographs for the fifth edition, just to make them actually re-visit the state-of-the-art.

Excellent book - But it could use a "cosmetic" update.......2000-02-16

Good subject coverage, knowledgeable author, and plenty of uncluttered figures makes this book very worthwhile. The only thing missing from this excellent book is an update. Although this is the third edition (1998), almost all of the equipment photographs are from the early-to-mid 1970's. An extensive and broad Suggested Reading section follows most chapters but again far far too many references are to early 1970's books and manuals. An update could earn this book a 5+ rating.

Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage (Studies in Interactional Sociolinguistics)

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Politeness as the basis for social order
Politely Speaking

Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage (Studies in Interactional Sociolinguistics)
Penelope Brown , and Stephen C. Levinson
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521313554

Book Description

This study is about the principles for constructing polite speech. The core of it first appeared in Questions and Politeness, edited by Esther N. Goody (now out of print). It is here reissued with a new introduction which surveys the now considerable literature in linguistics, psychology and the social sciences that the original extended essay stimulated, and suggests new directions for research. The authors describe and account for some remarkable parallelisms in the linguistic construction of utterances with which people express themselves in different languages and cultures. A motive for these parallels is isolated - politeness, broadly defined to include both polite friendliness and polite formality - and a universal model is constructed outlining the abstract principles underlying polite usages. This is based on the detailed study of three unrelated languages and cultures: the Tamil of South India, the Tzeltal spoken by Mayan Indians in Chiapas, Mexico, and the English of the USA and England, supplemented by examples from other cultures. Underneath the apparent diversity of polite behaviour in different societies lie some general pan-human principles of social interaction, and the model of politeness provides a tool for analysing the quality of social relations in any society. This volume will be of special interest to students in linguistic pragmatics, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, anthropology, and the sociology and social psychology of interaction.

Customer Reviews:

Politeness as the basis for social order.......2005-07-12

Stemming from a sociological view of language in use, this book shows that politeness strategies are the basis for social order. The authors advocate as well that politeness fuels the interactions any rational individual in all societies performs while using language to communicate and share experiences with each other. Any individual holds a specific face, that is, if the face is positive, the individual allows for a more "softly" interaction. By contrast, if the individual's face is negative, a more formal way of using language is required, in order to minimise any imposition upon the listener. So the authors demonstrate that politeness is far more than a guide to the rules of diplomatic etiquette. The book is, in fact, an invaluable source for lay people as well as linguists who seek to understand politeness as a realisation of power and agreement through language in use.

Politely Speaking.......2001-09-19

Brown and Levinson's classic treatment of linguistic politeness is quite possibly the most widely cited work on the subject. Their theory of politeness is based on the notion of "face," that is, the twin desires to be unimpeded and approved, and takes politeness to be speech that addresses one or both of these "face needs."

In this re-issue of the original work, the authors expand their analysis to incorporate and respond to the considerable body of literature generated by their original work.

This book is a must for students of applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, sociology and anthropology.

Average customer rating:

Three years later, I still return to this book

A systematic approach to grants ... and a good read, too

Very comprehensive

Demystified!

Demystifying Grant Seeking: What You REALLY Need to Do to Get Grants
Larissa Golden Brown , and Martin John Brown
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Only Grant-Writing Book You'll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secrets

Getting Funded: The Complete Guide to Writing Grant Proposals

Grant Writing For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

Writing for a Good Cause: The Complete Guide to Crafting Proposals and Other Persuasive Pieces for Nonprofits

Winning Grants: Step by Step, 2nd Edition

ASIN: 0787956503

Book Description

Demystifying Grantseeking is an inspirational and instructional guide to grantseeking. The authors--successful grantseekers in their own right--show you how to overcome the common fears fundraisers often experience and offer sound, practical advice to successful grantseeking. The book provides you with a systematic and logical way of searching for grants, and helps to identify which foundations to approach so fundraisers don't waste time on dead-end proposals.

Customer Reviews:

Three years later, I still return to this book.......2005-06-29

I purchased this book to guide me through my first grantwriting position in the winter of 2002, and I still return to it today. The sample letters are valuable, and I have successfully modified them to meet the needs of three different organizations. The filing systems make managing a huge amount of information easy. I always recommed this book to people looking to get started with grant writing, and have sung its praises at several workshops I have conducted for beginning grantwriters.

A systematic approach to grants ... and a good read, too.......2004-05-19

This book presents a systematic approach that begins with identifying your internal needs and moves through the process of research, proposal development, and outreach to funders. Myths are addressed along the way; for example, grants are not "something for nothing," but rather "rational deals between colleagues." A good read filled with specific, hands-on advice.

Very comprehensive.......2003-08-18

I am new to the grant writing field. I started my education by reading this book. I found it very informative, but easy to follow. The book is not only theoretical, but offers a great deal of "hands on" advice, including sample forms, grants, etc. The writing style was straighforward and professional. I found the book to be an excellent way to start gaining a practical understanding of this field.

Demystified!.......2002-01-19

For anyone entering the realm of grant seeking for non profits - or seeking more effective ways to do their job - Demystifying Grant Seeking is a powerful tool. This book takes the reader through the steps of setting up a usable office, making matches between agencies and foundations, writing grant applications, evaluating the process and doing it all again, tighter, quicker, better. The authors use one agency as an example, taking their audience through the entire process. No question is left unanswered, and all questions are answered patiently, graciously, and in easily understood language. This book is a great resource.

The Sporting News Selects Football's 100 Greatest Players: A Celebration of the 20th Century's Best

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The NFL's 100 all-time best
Great Picks!
Great Book

The Sporting News Selects Football's 100 Greatest Players: A Celebration of the 20th Century's Best
Ron Smith , and John Rawlings
Manufacturer: Sporting News Publishing Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Baseball's 100 Greatest Players: Second Edition

ASIN: 0892046244

Amazon.com

Strap on your helmet and prepare to knock heads: Every page of Football's 100 Greatest Players dares you to challenge it. The volume's gutsiness, however, is its essence; unlike many similar assemblages, the list is presented in numerical order, with each entry drawing its own proverbial line of scrimmage. The surprises begin right at Number 1: Browns running back Jim Brown. "He came, he saw, he conquered," writes Smith, "And then, like a thief in the night he disappeared from professional football with every rushing record known to man." Numbers 2 and 3 are pretty startling, if only for their contemporary contemporaneousness--Jerry Rice and Joe Montana, together again. The rest of the Top 10 is spread around the field, both temporally and by position: Lawrence Taylor, Johnny Unitas, Don Hutson, Otto Graham, Walter Payton, Dick Butkus, and Bob Lilly. John Elway sneaks into the Top 20 at 16, and old stalwarts like Red Grange and Jim Thorpe hover down in the 80s--with Bret Favre.

The real difficulty in ranking football players is the apples-and-oranges subjectivity of comparing a center (Jim Otto, ranked number 78) to a defensive end (Gino Marchetti, 15), a cornerback (Night Train Lane, 19), a linebacker (Mike Singletary, 56), a fullback (Bronko Nagurski, 35), or a wide receiver (Fred Biletnikoff, 94). Some, like Frank Gifford, Paul Hornung, and Jim Taylor, don't even make the cut. The 100 who do, though, get deluxe treatment: a full-page photo and Smith's spry textual tour of the player and his accomplishments, with applicable stats at the back of the volume and lots of individualized Top-10 lists, like No. 98--George Blanda's Smartest Quarterbacks--and No. 64--Ted Hendricks's Toughest Runners To Tackle. Still, the fun of Football's 100 Greatest is its interactivity; the moment you open it up, you'll doubtless start looking to blow holes through its defenses. --Jeff Silverman

Customer Reviews:

The NFL's 100 all-time best.......2001-04-07

This book is loads of fun to the NFL enthusiast. All eras of the NFL are included (from the 1930's to the present day) as well as all positions (except kickers and punters -- I guess none of them were among the top 100 players). Each entry gets a full two pages -- one a beautiful full-color picture and one a page-long description of that player's special talents and accomplishments. Each player also gets a "Top 10 list" -- a list by a colleague or coach of the best players, most intense players, smartest players, etc. -- including that individual.

The selection and ranking of players was as unbiased as possible. The editors began with 300 names, which they then reduced to 100, and from which each selected his top ten players, without ranking them. After tabulating the results, the editors then ranked the top 10. Then the voters selected their next 15 players, compared notes, and ranked numbers 11-25. They did this with 26-50, 51-75, and 76-100. Is the book still subjective? Undoubtably. You can't objectively compare linemen to running backs to receivers to quarterbacks and objectively identify the overall best players. But the editors did their best to be objective.

The top 10, in order from #1, are Jim Brown, Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Lawrence Taylor, Johnny Unitas, Don Hutson, Otto Graham, Walter Payton, Dick Butkus, and Bob Lilly. I would give this book 5 stars, except that John Elway only comes in at #16, which IMHO is about 15 slots too low (but that shows you where I grew up :-) (Also, Bronco fans should be sure to look on the last 2 pages for an extra special treat.)

All in all, this is a fun book about some great football players. Whether or not you agree with the rankings, you gotta admit: all of the top 100 were/are great players!

Great Picks!.......2000-10-12

How do you go about picking the greatest 100 football players of all time? There are going to be agreements about who should be on it, and lots of disagreements about who should or shouldn't be on it. This book tackles an extremely difficult job and comes out a winner. Whether or not you agree with all the choices here, you have to admit they picked some damn good ones.

Each page contains pics and a bio on the player. They list Jim Brown as number 1. Funny how just the other night I was in a local sports bar, and a man sitting next to me said "Jim Brown was the greatest player I ever saw." Obviously, this book agrees with my "friend." In fact, the book's forword is written by Brown.

In addition to TSN's Top 100 players listed in numercial order, there's also a "timeline" of when these players were active. Also listed are TSN's all-decade teams. Leafing through the pages brought back memories of players I have watched and enjoyed, and of players whose exploits I only read about years after their careers ended.

So do you agree with all the choices in this book? The only way to find out is to buy it and judge for yourself. I guarantee it's well worth the money.

Great Book.......2000-04-09

I Enjoyed this Book but Lists aren't Important.Cuz you can never say who would rule any given Time Period.I think all People Selected are Winners.of Course their are some who didn't make the list and therefor they should be acknowledged as well.

Average customer rating:

A good reference
Very complete yet sometimes boring: serious stuff !

Fundamentals of Private Pensions
Dan M. McGill , Kyle N. Brown , John J. Haley , and Sylvester J. Schieber
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0199269505

Book Description

For almost five decades, Fundamentals of Private Pensions has been the most authoritative text and reference book on private pensions in the US in the world. The revised and updated eighth edition adds to past knowledge while providing exciting new perspectives on the provision of retirement income. This new edition is organized into six main sections dealing with a variety of separable pension issues. Section I provides an introductory discussion on the historical evolution of the pension movement and how pensions fit into the patchwork of the whole retirement income security system in the United States. It includes a discussion about the economics of the tax incentives that have played a role in stimulating pension offerings and in the structure of the benefits provided. Section 2 lays out the regulatory environment in which private pension plans operate. Section 3 investigates the various forms of retirement plans that are available to workers to determine how they are structured in practical terms. Section 4 focuses on the economics of pensions. Several of the chapters in this section update and refine material from the prior. New chapters in this volume describe the conversion of some traditional pensions to new hybrid forms, including cash balance and pension equity plans, and the growing phenomenon of phased retirement and the issues raised for employer-sponsored pensions. Section 5 explores the funding and accounting environments in which private employer-sponsored retirement plans operate. The concluding section investigates the handling of assets in employer-sponsored plans and their valuation as well as the insurance provision behind the benefit promises implied by the plans. This latest edition of Fundamentals of Private Pensions will prove invaluable reading for both academics and professionals working in the area of pensions and pension management.

Customer Reviews:

A good reference.......2002-09-14

A good reference book for anyone connected with a pension or profit sharing arrangement. It is not a guide to IRAs, Keogh plans, SEPs, rather it focuses on traditional defined contribution and defined benefit plans. While this book seems written for more for budding actuaries, those wishing to study design alternatives or asset management will find this book provides a good background. I find two flaws with the book.

First is the lack of examples. While the book discusses full funding limitations, it does not show you an example calculation. While it tells you how to calculate the minimum liability, it does not show you an example of how to present it in the financial statements. This book is not a text book, but it would be very helpful to see some real examples in practice rather than only discussions about the rationale behind the method.

Second, the single chapter on pension accounting is weak. Issues not mentioned include accounting for minimum liability, disclosures under FAS 132, understanding the relationship between funding and expense, curtailments and other plan amendments, the interrelationships between the conflicting limitations of ERISA/IRC/GAAP, the effect of pension assumptions on the financial statements and the impact of FAS 87 for an over funded plan on the financial statements of the sponsor. The perspective focuses more on the reasons the accounting standards exist, not the strategy or day-to-day issues of how the pension affects the financial statements of the sponsor. If accounting is what you need, buy a current intermediate accounting book.

Very complete yet sometimes boring: serious stuff !.......2000-11-07

Very coplete study, covering almost all imaginable subjects, from actuarial maths to investment management to organisation and HR aspects of pension provision. This is not a manual, though. Get a simpler and less in detail book to get a general view of the topic, and then use "Fundamentals..." as reference.

Average customer rating:

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4 1/2 stars - challenging math book
Wonderful text
PERFECT

Geometry
Brown Jergensen , Richard G. Brown , and John W. Jurgensen
Manufacturer: Mcdougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 039577120X

Customer Reviews:

Quick & Easy.......2007-09-27

I usually don't order my son's textbooks from Amazon because I fear that they may arrive late since I don't know exactly who is sending them when I ordered used, however, this was so quick and easy and arrrived in 2 days!

Great Service.......2007-09-10

Received the book as described and in the time indicated.

Thanks and building confidence to purchase from the site again!

4 1/2 stars - challenging math book.......2007-04-26

First off, I noticed that alot of people said they couldn't understand any of the problems. That may be true, but as long you read everything, it should be no problem at all. Besides, this book is recommended for honors math students, so it's supposed to be slightly challenging.

Pros- the book is well designed, end of every chapter has review notes, summary notes chapter tests, and sometimes cumulative exams as well as preparing for college entrance exams. Every section usually begins with some theroms, and they show you how the prove them. THe back of the book has all the definitions, theroms, postulates and test answers. Challenging in a fun way. The cover is also pretty durable

Cons- may be too challenging for the average student.

Wonderful text.......2007-02-14

I am a physician with an undergraduate degree in math and some graduate work in math, as well. Having elected to reenter the world of mathematics after thirty years, I found this text a wonderful exposition to geometry. I did read this after watching a course on geometry published by The Teaching Company, which was quite good as well.

PERFECT.......2006-11-07

The book is in PERFECT condition. Also, I received it in just a few days.

The Only Sustainable Edge: Why Business Strategy Depends on Productive Friction and Dynamic Specialization

Average customer rating:

Analyses and Prescriptions for Bringing More Actionable Knowledge into Your Organization
Good introduction to some important global trends
board implications for sustainable advantage.
Difficult to read
Good analysis but limited examples

The Only Sustainable Edge: Why Business Strategy Depends on Productive Friction and Dynamic Specialization
John Hagel III , and John Seely Brown
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1591397200

Book Description

Offshoring and outsourcing have generated substantial savings and often controversial news coverage for many companies. But these technologies aren’t even close to being the real story. Two of business’ leading strategy thinkers argue that the only sustainable advantage will come not from using technology to cut costs—but to get better faster than rivals. The authors identity two key forces—dynamic specialisation and productive friction that will dramatically reshape the competitive landscape and show what firms must do to understand, build and exploit these forces before their competitors do.

Customer Reviews:

Analyses and Prescriptions for Bringing More Actionable Knowledge into Your Organization.......2007-10-18

Around 1990, business reached one of those tipping points that change everything: You could now add knowledge, expertise, and capability better and more cheaply by involving those outside your organization than you could by building up your organization internally.

Authors John Hagel III and John Seely Brown focus on a few elements of this change as it had developed into management practices by 1995, outline the benefits of going in this direction, and describe what to do in broad outlines.

They build the book around five big themes:

1. Process outsourcing and offshoring provide access to specialization that you cannot otherwise match.

2. Flexible connections with suppliers, customers, and distributors allow you to make the most of these relationships.

3. Letting outsiders help establish the plan and agenda allows you to go in more productive directions than if your organization calls all of the shots.

4. Strategy development has to shift towards building capabilities from these dimensions. Prior approaches to strategy development are largely obsolete.

5. Shifting IT architecture and software to permit rapid flexibility in adding connections to other organizations.

The book will remind you of a shorter version of Michael Porter's books on competitive advantage and competitive strategy, except with a changed focus on developing capabilities. The book also shares Porter's affinity for using abstractions and general language that makes it hard to follow the arguments in the book. Also like Porter, you won't find very many examples.

What I found most inexplicable about the book is the authors that ignored the broader topic of continuing business model innovation (the issues presented here are just a subset of those opportunities) and the newer ways that companies are accessing new knowledge and capabilities (such as through the worldwide contests conducted by Goldcorp and Procter & Gamble). Indeed, I was shocked to see none of the most successful business model innovators cited in the book. Instead, there are lots of references to narrow studies that describe obsolete practices for strategy and implementation.

But if you want to learn how to rapidly throw together a global sourcing and distribution network for a large company that can be flexibly changed as the needs arise, this book is an excellent resource.

Good introduction to some important global trends.......2006-12-01

I recently heard John Hagel present on this book. In the book John and his co-author John Seely Brown discuss how recent changes in the world will force, indeed are forcing, companies to change how they think about offshoring and outsourcing, innovation and even their core business processes. They describe how a combination of "Converging forces generate margin squeeze" where those forces are digital technology (driving down interaction costs) and public policy (deregulation, trade and market liberalization and globalization). These trends are certainly real and visibly changing our world as we watch. Not only can "Customers can access more information about more vendors, negotiate more effectively with still more vendors, and switch from one vendor to another whenever they find greater value" but companies have more options for how to piece together the resources they need to do business. These new conditions and options, though, require companies to change the way they plan, operate and turn a profit and it is these changes that the book mostly discusses. The authors argue that these trends and opportunities are actually changing what it means to be a company. Redefining the role of the firm from economizing on market transactions, the original raison d'etre of most companies, to one of accelerating knowledge and capability growth.

The book does a good job of showing how some companies are competing in ways that would be unimaginable just a few years ago and the authors lay out a compelling case that companies who do not respond to these new threats and opportunities are taking an enormous risk. Whether or not you believe the change will be as widespread as the book implies, the changes are real and will impact your business to at least some degree and this makes the book worth reading.

board implications for sustainable advantage........2006-02-19

John Hagel is a Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Company. For two decades, John Seely Brown was Executive Director of the legendary Palo Alto Research Center. The authors argue that the only sustainable edge is to generate shareholder value through constant innovation. Current approaches to strategic thinking are inadequate to the task.

The book has one irritating quality and one large value for Board members.

This is a small booked packed with lots of ideas. I was distracted by the use of "new words" to describe old concepts. It is almost as though the authors are trying to invent a new vocabulary using concepts that could be best explained in plain English. Examples of this business psychobabble include "radical incrementalism," "performance fabrics," "process networks," and "productive friction." These are really not new concepts but they have invented new words. I want to read a business book that would help me improve my company's effectiveness. I didn't sign up to learn a new language.

The good news is that Boards and CEOs ought to carefully consider their matrixed approach to talking about strategy. They call this matrixed approach "dynamic specialization."

The current fad is to talk about business models organized along industry lines. The authors argue that industry focus is insufficient for a proper conversation about strategy. Within that industry-focused model, there needs to be a second strategic focus.

They see this new strategic focus along three dimensions:

Infrastructure Management. Financial services, pharmaceuticals, and the computer industry are already structured in significant ways along these lines. State Street Corporation is an example of a company that services the financial services industry but its value clearly revolves around infrastructure management. UPS revolves around infrastructure management of logistics. An infrastructure management theme works well for relatively routine, high volume business activities.

Product Innovation. Specialized biotech companies are taking on more of R&D activities so that large pharmaceutical companies can focus on scale intensive manufacturing and distribution. There are specialty design shops that serve the fashion industry. There are specialty semiconductor design shops that serve the electronics industry.

Customer Relationship. These firms concentrate on identifying target customer segments, getting to know that segment very well, and using its resources to mobilize third party products and services to address the needs of their customers. Physicians who practice general medicine, financial planners, real estate agents, and attorneys all provide this framework. Accenture is a company with this type of framework.

From a strategic perspective, most companies today like to say that they do all three types of services within their walls. But each approach requires different economics, different skills, and different cultures. When Boards accept the CEOs notion that all three models are appropriate in the strategic mix, the inevitable implication is sub optimization of one or all of these strategies.

This sub optimization increases company vulnerability to its more focused competitors.

Laurence J. Stybel
Boardoptions.com
lstybel@boardoptions.com

Difficult to read.......2006-01-22

The book is extremely poorly written. Very difficult to read. The ideas are not new. Don't buy it.

Good analysis but limited examples.......2005-11-14

Not being a specialist in business strategy I thought there was a lot of great material with excellent insights and analysis in this book, but I would have liked to see more examples or case studies that supported their views. I was suprised that after a slow start the sections on dynamic specialization and productive friction were brilliant and I think even surpass Clayton Christenson's anaylsis of the mechanisms of innovation inside corporate cultures.

In the early parts of the book, particularly the acknowledgements, it appeared that this might be another treatise on how great outsourcing is, but no matter where one stands on the issue it's established that it's a fact of life for corporate america and that the business strategy to leverage specialization outside your core competencies is going to determine future success. To take Paul Graham's analogy a bit further" "Companies are going to learn about outsourcing and specialization the same way a gene pool learns about new environmental conditions."

There's a lot of great insight to take away from The Sustainable Edge, though I wish there were more examples that illustrate their ideas.

Algebra: The University of Chicago School Mathematics Project

Average customer rating:

Excellent
"Chicago Math" Algebra text is Excellent!

Algebra: The University of Chicago School Mathematics Project
John W. McConnell , Susan Brown , Zalman Usiskin , Sharon L. Senk , Ted Widerski , Margaret Hackworth , Daniel Hirschhorn , Lydia Polonsky , Leroy Sachs , and Ernest Woodward
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0673459527

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2000-08-04

The University of Chicago Math Series is excellent as an self-study or in-classroom math series. I prefer it over other curriculums I have used.

"Chicago Math" Algebra text is Excellent!.......2000-06-26

Our 14 yr. old (homeschooled) daughter just completed this University of Chicago's Algebra textbook. She found the text complete, thorough, and very easy to follow! She found it to be an almost completely 'self taught' course! She also enjoyed the colorful pictures, extra projects sections, and the interesting sidenotes which included world trivia topics. We have been successfully using the Saxon math text books for all of our lower grade math work thus far, and were somewhat reluctant to try something "new" and different. But right from the start, our daughter LOVED the Chicago math, and welcomed the change. I just wish that there had been a text like this for me, her mother, when I was struggling through Algebra back in the '70's. We would highly recommend this math textbook, and it's clear solution manual to ANYONE studying Algebra! Go ahead and try something different this year!

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